


Submission and Addiction

by L_awlietxoxx



Category: Adam Lambert (Musician), American Idol RPF
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-02
Updated: 2011-10-02
Packaged: 2017-10-24 06:24:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 125,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/260124
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L_awlietxoxx/pseuds/L_awlietxoxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>(Ancient Egypt AU, Inspired by this photograph: http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll83/__909_/150058752.jpg)<br/>Adam Lambert is the dazzling, infamous prostitute whom everybody wants but few can have. Kris is the servant of a lord with a fist eager to strike. After running away from his abusive master, Kris finds himself taken in by Adam Lambert and cared for. Kris had a difficult childhood, and Adam has layers of pain and heartbreak all trapped inside him. Adam is mysterious, gorgeous, and poised. Kris finds himself drawn in, concerned for the past that Adam won't mention, and quickly coming to care for Adam as much as Adam does him. Meanwhile, Adam unintentionally makes enemies in high places, who won't be satisfied with anything but his suffering.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The man was middle-aged, balding, and the underarms of his shirt were soaked through with sweat. Adam had already had a very busy and trying day, and this was certainly not what he needed. Now, Adam had learned the lesson years ago of not to judge people by their appearances alone. But what had really repulsed him was the way the man had looked at him like a piece of meat when Adam had swept into the room, and now he looked moments away from salivating. Adam sighed inconspicuously to himself, and tugged the loose-fitting neckline of his black silk robes up higher, covering freckled skin. The man was producing wads of paper bills from his pocket, while an uncensored stream of all his desires poured out of his mouth. Adam crossed his arms and sighed more loudly this time.

“Sir, everyone may want me, but that does not mean that everyone can have me.” Adam’s voice delivered rich, perfect confidence and control.

The man looked puzzled for a moment, before the meaning of Adam’s words – the rejection – started to sink in. Adam really did not have the patience or mind for this. “I would suggest, for your own good, Sir, that you leave on your own two legs before my guard comes in here to accompany you outside.” The man was growing angry, enraged by now.

“You can’t just turn me down, you filthy whore,” he snarled loudly. Before Adam even had the chance to clap three times – his guard’s signal -, Michael stepped into the room from outside after hearing the man’s raised voice and insult.

“Sir, would you like me to escort you out?” he asked smoothly, standing only inches behind the man and glowering down at him.

“No, I’ll be just fine on my own,” he replied hotly, turning to stalk outside. Michael followed him a little ways, making sure he left for good. Once he was left alone, Adam collapsed, exhausted into a pile of cushions that sat in the center of the main living area of his tent. The day was hot and muggy, and Adam opened the front of his robes a little bit for some relief. He reached for the smoking pipe that sat right next to the cushions. It was always what he leaned on when he was feeling stressed or particularly done in. Adam swept his shoulder-length black hair over one shoulder, along with the charms and peacock feathers that dangled from a rod threaded through his earlobe. He lifted the pipe to his lips, inhaled deeply, and then exhaled slowly, closing his eyes in content as the smoke drifted up from his mouth to dance through the air. Michael made his way back inside then and took in the sight of Adam’s exhausted form laid out on the cushions.

“You’re tired, you’ve already had three customers today. Should I close up?” Adam opened his eyes and trained them on the cloth ceiling. “No, that’s alright. It’s only midday.” Adam kept his next thought to himself, rather than saying it aloud.

And maybe today will be the day he comes…

 

“One of your regular beggars is here,” Adam heard Michael call out to him while Adam was sitting in his back private chamber powdering his face. It had only been about two hours since the last attempted-customer had come in, the one Michael had had to chase off after Adam declined him. Adam tossed his black, shiny hair a few times with his fingers and made sure the rouge on his face was just right before he emerged from his chamber, the loose-fitting and semi-see through black silk robes he wore blowing out from his body a bit as the wind swept through the tent.

“Ah, Lord Dallon. I see you’re back to try your hand a third time at regaling me into bed.” Adam situated himself once again in the middle of the cushions in the main room. He methodically smoothed the silk of his robes down over his legs and then settled back, looking up at the man with hooded, nonplused blue eyes. “And what makes you think you’ll be any more successful this time?”

Dallon’s eyes were making their way slowly and thoroughly up and back down Adam’s body – the form of his lightly muscled upper arms and chest, flat stomach, soft, wide hips, and then creamy, smooth thighs visible just enough through his robes to drive potential customers mad, without revealing too much that he was giving himself away for free. There was still plenty of him to discover and explore.

“I’ve brought you more this time. I think you’ll be impressed.”

Dallon tore his hungry eyes away from devouring the sight of Adam’s body, and turned back towards the door instead.

“Kris! Bring the trunk in here, boy! Move your useless feet!” Dallon called out, his voice noticeably rougher and meaner than the voice he had spoken to Adam with. Adam raised one thin, perfectly-plucked eyebrow at the word ‘trunk’. A servant boy stumbled in through the door, carrying a large, wooden chest in his arms. The chest was so bulky and wide that Adam couldn’t even see the boy’s face over the top of it. He could tell the boy was one of Dallon’s servants though by the fact that he was wearing the normal servant attire – tan three-quarter pants with a loose, white shirt. “Put it down on the ground already and show him!” Dallon commanded.

“If you think you’re the first to try impressing me with your servants and orders, Lord Dallon, know you’re far from it.”

“Oh, there’s plenty more to impress you with,” Dallon assured, smiling. The servant boy bent down, lowering the trunk carefully to the ground. Adam’s eyes shifted from the trunk to the boy as he straightened up again. Adam’s breath caught in his throat the slightest bit when he saw the boy’s face. He was beautiful, and far beyond it. He had a sweet round face, with dimpled cheeks and clear, sparkling brown eyes. His short brown hair stuck up a little bit from his head. His gorgeous eyes skimmed up for a moment to look at Adam, but as soon as he saw Adam was looking right at him, he quickly diverted his gaze, looking the slightest bit flustered. Adam smirked the slightest bit to himself.

Dallon reclaimed Adam’s attention by kneeling down next to the trunk. He made sure Adam was watching, before he opened the lid. Inside were heaps and mounds of sparkling stones and gems. Adam found himself entranced by their beauty for a few seconds, and in those moments Dallon looked so incredibly haughty that one would have thought he had just conquered the world.

“Pick up the trunk to show him,” Dallon snapped at the slave boy Adam had been admiring just a moment ago. The boy nodded and bent back down to heave the trunk back up into his arms. He bit his lip to hold in a grunt of effort, and Adam felt bad. The boy held up the open trunk in his arms, and Adam got the full, blinding effect of all the jewels. But, next to the boy’s trembling arms, beautiful face, and distress, Adam wasn’t impressed.

Adam sighed before standing up from the cushions he had been lounging back in. Compared to some of the other men that came vying for Adam’s attention, Dallon was really rather handsome. He was lean and fit, with auburn hair that flipped perfectly over his forehead. But the man was obviously unkind and callous, and Adam never wanted hands like that on him, not even for a chest of jewels he had to admit were very enticing.

In one brief movement, Adam clapped his hands together three times. Michael appeared only a moment later, standing imposingly behind Dallon.

“Restrain his arms, please?”

Before Dallon even had a chance to process the order and who it was directed to, Michael had taken hold of both of his arms and yanked them back, holding them behind Dallon’s back in an iron grip. Dallon made a noise of pain and struggled against Michael’s hold for a moment. He stilled suddenly when Adam stepped up close to him, and spoke in a velvet, entrancing tone. “Heed me for a moment, Dallon.”

Dallon froze completely when Adam stepped in so close he could practically taste his breath. Dallon’s eyes were glued to Adam’s face, but Adam’s were turned downwards. Adam touched his hands to Dallon’s chest, his fingers trailing slowly and lightly up the broad width of it, before placing his hands on his shoulders. Adam leaned in little by little – a learned skill in which he moved closer at a torturously slow pace, and as distance lessened, his lips parted. Every drop of Dallon’s attention and thoughts were stolen by that mouth. Finally, after what seemed like ages, Adam fit their mouths together, first a light trace of lips over lips, before it morphed into a deep, sensual thing. The servant boy who still held the chest open a few feet away, blushed scarlet. Even after he looked away, he could still hear it. When Adam pulled away in a fluid motion, Dallon looked light headed, like he might disappear or fall apart if Michael wasn’t still holding him up.

“Take that…,” Adam toned, his voice like silk as his one hand still resting on Dallon’s shoulder stroked over it once. Without his gaze even once breaking its hold on Dallon’s eyes, Adam reached out with his other hand to where the servant boy and the trunk were within reach, and Adam closed the lid of the chest. “…and keep this. Buy your little servant something nice for me, instead of mistreating him.”

Adam’s electrifying blue eyes worked into Dallon’s dark ones for a few more seconds. If intercourse were possible just through eye contact, all of Adam’s customers would probably leave crippled from the intensity of their orgasms. Adam then turned his back on Dallon and walked back to his private room again, disappearing from sight.

“Time for you to go,” Michael said gruffly, with no room for argument as he steered Dallon outside. His servant moved right away to follow, but then paused. He turned to look back at the cloth hanging which was the makeshift doorway Adam had just disappeared through. He stared for a good few seconds before following his master outside.

 

Of course, Lord Dallon could never believe the idea that it was his own flaws of character that had made Adam reject him once again. Clearly, it was Kris’ fault. Kris hadn’t held the chest up the correct way for the light to catch on the jewels, and Kris had thieved Adam’s attention away with his young, boyish features. Dallon gave him something that night, alright, but it certainly wasn’t anything nice. What he gave him left Kris a crumpled, broken heap on the floor of his small servant quarters. Once Dallon left, Kris cried to himself on the floor, as his tears and blood slowly seeped into the carpet. He would surely be beaten again for allowing the carpet to stain this badly. Kris made himself stand up from the ground on shaky legs. His white tunic was soaked through with blood, and he knew his face was badly bruised. He collapsed on the tiny cot that was his bed, wincing as he reached his fingers up to feel his face. His lip was split, and he could feel mottled bruises forming on his face. Kris tried his best to hold tears back, but he was tired of doing that. He was tired of picking himself up off the floor, of tending to his own wounds, knowing that it would only be a matter of time before it all happened again. He’d been living like that for years, for longer than he could remember. He had been working in Lord Dallon’s household since he was a teenager. It was where he had spent most of his life. He hated it. He hated the lord.

Kris had gone into his small bathroom, lifted his tunic to inspect the bruises covering his chest, when he made the decision. He couldn’t live like this anymore. He couldn’t stay here, working and working and working and never knowing when the next beating was on its way. Kris splashed some water on his face, rinsing off the blood that had trickled from his lip and also making him fully alert for what he was about to attempt. Kris stared himself down in the mirror for a few seconds, working up courage and strength.

Finally, he crept out from his quarters and down the large hallway. He knew exactly where the squeaky floorboards were – thanks to years of cleaning the floors by hand – and expertly avoided them as he snuck silently to the door of Dallon’s master bedroom. He peeked through the crack of the door, checking to see if the light was off, and listening to hear if the man was walking or moving around. Kris stood there still as a statue for what felt like hours, until he was positive that Dallon was asleep. Kris turned away from Dallon’s bedroom door, and faced the front door of the giant house that led outside. If he was going to be honest with himself, he had to admit that sneaking out of the house was hardly the difficult part. The thing was, Kris had no money, and no clothes aside from his one set of tan breeches and white tunic which he was currently wearing. Kris had nothing to his name. He didn’t know what he would do once he got past those double doors leading outside. Kris touched his hand to his side, and felt the dried blood in his shirt and the pain shooting up his side from the pressure to his bruises.

Anything would be better than this. Without letting himself doubt or think his way out of it, Kris silently slid his way over to the door and crept out into the night.

Kris found his way in the moonlight down the path to the center of town. The desert sand bit at his bare feet and legs, but he ignored it. His feet were strong and callused from years of walking barefoot. The center of town was empty and deserted, just as he had been expecting. It was the middle of the night, and no vendors or merchants were anywhere near at this time. But Kris’ hope was that maybe he would be able to scrounge up some food or a job from the flurry of people that hustled and bustled through here throughout the day. But for now, Kris had a while to wait. He traipsed over to a little hidden corner, a small alley between two buildings. Kris curled up, leaning back against the wall of one of the buildings with a sigh. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hid his face against them. He was still for a long while, just taking deep breaths to steady himself and kept telling himself that he had to do this. He couldn’t just run back to Lord Dallon and get back into his tiny cot in his servant quarters. He couldn’t.

By the time Kris had exhausted himself with all of his stressed, worried thinking, he had curled up on his side in that small alley. His eyes slipped shut.

As Kris slowly slipped into an uneasy sleep, he found his thoughts drifting back to Adam, remembering him from earlier in the day. Thinking about him was definitely less stressful. Whenever Kris had gone to the markets, he had heard plenty about Adam Lambert, the prostitute who lived on the edge of town. He serviced both women and men, but it was rumored he preferred men. However, the way Kris had imagined Adam before had been completely and totally wrong. When he heard the word ‘prostitute’, he thought of a man begging and bending and doing whatever was asked of him. The opposite was true. The people who came to buy Adam’s time and attention had to earn it first. They were the ones begging. Adam was completely in control of everything that happened around him, his cool and collected exterior commanded it. Kris had seen the women who lined up along the main road that ran through town. They would climb into the wagons of any men that could give them a few gold pieces or coins. They were the complete opposite of Adam. Those women would shout out and bare themselves to the eyes of passersby, trying to catch their attention. Adam’s method was subtle and tasteful, teasing those who looked hard enough with just the slightest shade of skin through his robes. And more than that, Adam was beautiful in a way unparalleled by anyone else Kris had ever seen.

No one was as kind as Kris had been hoping for. All of the vendors selling food would just roll their eyes and shoo him away the second he got close to their stands. Kris tried negotiating, asking for just a single piece of fruit or piece of bread and promising that he would work in exchange to pay for it. No one listened. Kris tried for hours, going from vendor to vendor, until he was so hungry that his stomach was almost constantly growling and snarling at him.

Midday came and past, and Kris was starting to get desperate. He was standing in the very middle of the road, and people bustled around him like he wasn’t even there. He was pushed and shoved roughly back and forth by the people around him, and Kris felt only moments away from tears and just giving up. He’d have to choose between a few days of freedom and starvation, or returning to Lord Dallon’s household. He didn’t even want to consider the kind of beating he would get if he returned. All Kris knew was that suddenly he had to get away from all of these people.

Desperation clawed at him as he pushed his way through people, trying to make his way out of the crowd. Kris was crying a little bit without even realizing it. That was when he turned to push a tall man out of the way, and he was pushed right into the man’s front. The man stumbled back a few steps, and his hands came up to steady Kris with hands on his shoulders. Kris looked up, and his breath caught in his throat. It was Adam. ….looking just as stunningly beautiful as he had the day before. He was wearing white robes, plenty heavier than the ones Kris had seen him in last time. He had a hood pulled up over his head to shield him from the harsh sunlight and biting sand. But even with the hood, Kris could see his face perfectly, and the deeply concerned and compassionate eyes Adam was watching him with. It was the first time in a long time that Kris had seen eyes like that turned to him.

“You’re….Dallon’s servant, right? You came with him yesterday?”

Adam’s voice was casual and plain, as opposed to the sleek challenges and commands he had turned on Dallon. Kris just nodded slightly, his gaze slipping down to the ground. Even over the noise of all the people around them, Kris heard Adam take in a sharp breath when he got a good look at Kris’ face. “What happened to you?” Adam asked him, his voice just barely loud enough to be heard. Kris felt one of Adam’s fingers gently touch his bruised cheek, and Kris looked up at him.

“The lord does it all the time,” Kris responded, his voice soft and dull.

“The bastard,” Adam muttered, his eyes taking in all of the bruises and disfigurements that had appeared on Kris’ sweet, beautiful face. He looked down at Kris’ body, and saw the dried blood caked all over his tunic. “Why are you out here all on your own?”

“I tried to run away last night,” Kris said with a tiny, totally unhappy laugh. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I have no money, no food,…nothing. ………….. I’ll probably have to go back to Dallon.”

They were both silent for a moment, Kris looking at the ground and Adam looking at him, taking in all of the mistreatment the boy had endured.

“No, you can’t go back to him,” Adam said decisively, like he was making the decision final on Kris’ behalf.

“And where would I go? How would I save myself from starving to death?”

“You’re going to come with me.” Adam spoke matter-of-factly, like it was obvious – a dead give-away. Kris just looked up at him, stunned and disbelieving. Kris noticed some people who passed them muttering to each other, Adam’s name mixed in with their conversation as they looked over the tall, beautiful man. All of the whispers were well within earshot, but Kris didn’t see the slightest flicker of acknowledgement on Adam’s face. Adam smiled at Kris, his attention undivided, and held his hand up, palm up to Kris.

“Obviously I’m not exactly the top of society, but anything’s better than that monster Dallon, right? I would never be able to sleep again if I knew I let you go back to him without trying to help you.” Adam held his hand up a little higher. Kris’ eyes slid slowly from Adam’s face down to his extended hand. “I’ll take care of you.”

Kris swallowed hard, his doubts and fears swallowed down and disappearing. He slowly slid his hand into Adam’s. Adam’s fingers curled around his hand were softly coaxing and guiding, as Adam turned to push his way out of the throng of people and pulled Kris along behind him. Kris followed him, sticking close behind him the whole way back to Adam’s home.

 

Adam’s tent was huge and well-fortified. The steel rods and poles sunk into the ground to hold it down looked practically indestructible. Kris had no doubt that it could withstand any storm or weather. Adam ducked through the front entrance, and beckoned Kris to step in after him.

“I’m back, Michael. I didn’t find any of that salve I needed, but I found something else.” Adam smiled at Kris as he stepped inside, and placed his hand on Kris’ back. “Remember Dallon’s third pass at me yesterday? Well when he got home he gave the poor boy all of these...” Adam stroked his fingers lightly over a bruise on Kris’ cheek. The touch was so feather-light, Kris didn’t even flinch. The immediate front area of the tent past the door was Michael’s small area that whoever entering the tent had to pass through before they could get inside. Michael himself was a hulking, burly man who Kris definitely never wanted to cross. When he stood up from his large chair in the corner, Kris actually gulped a little bit. Michael wasn’t quite as tall as Adam, but he was about twice as large the other way around. And that was much more from muscle than fat.

“Those look pretty bad,” Michael commented, pointing a finger towards the places where blood was still trickling into Kris’ shirt. “They need to be covered and the bleeding stopped. I can see your tunic’s already got at least a good tenth of your body’s blood on it.”

“You’re right,” Adam agreed with a concerned frown, then said to Kris, “We’d better start cleaning you up.” He placed his hand again on Kris’ back to lead him inside. “I suppose if you think about it,” Adam mused aloud, “It’s my fault this happened to you. If I’d just taken Dallon’s jewels and let him have me, he probably wouldn’t have had the anger to do this to you.”

Kris shook his head right away.

“If it hadn’t been last night, something different would have angered him today and everything would have turned out the same.”

“Well,…not the same,” Adam corrected with a small smile to Kris. “If it hadn’t happened last night, you wouldn’t have been at the markets today and I wouldn’t have ran into you.”

Once all the way inside Adam’s tent, the inside was divided into three sections by thick pieces of cloth that hung from rods, acting as walls. There was a large front area, with chairs, tables, and cushions. Off to the left was a small isolated section, and Kris could see enough inside to see the whole floor of that area was padded with cushions. Kris blushed the slightest bit when he realized that was probably where Adam ‘worked’. The third area of the tent was where Adam led him, into his private secluded area in the back of the tent.

“I don’t even know your name yet, do I?” Adam asked all of a sudden, shaking his head at himself and his own forgetfulness.

“It’s Kris.”

“Kris, I see.” Adam pulled the cloth door to his chamber aside so Kris could step in before him. “You most likely already know, but my name is Adam. Seems everyone already knows my name these days.” His voice rang out with the tiniest bit of unhappiness, but when Kris turned to look at him, his face was betraying nothing. He still looked just as perfectly collected and calm as he usually did.

Kris stood in the middle of the room while Adam untied the front of the heavy white robe he’d worn outside. Adam pushed the hood back from his face, letting his long black hair fall forward to frame his face, and slid the fabric off of his shoulders. He tossed the robe nonchalantly over a chair in the corner of the room. Underneath, he was wearing black leggings that looked literally skin-tight, and a sleeveless white shirt that tucked loosely into his pants. He turned to look through some things on a vanity table in front of a mirror. The shirt he had on was loose, and whenever he would shift or move at all, more of his smooth, freckled shoulders would slide into view. Kris watched Adam’s back, and his throat suddenly felt dry in a completely strange way.

Adam called out, “Michael, could you bring me a basin of water?” Adam turned back around to face Kris, holding a roll of cloth bandages in one hand , and a wash cloth in the other. “Let’s get those cuts cleaned up, hm?” Kris wondered if he should be insulted about the way Adam’s tone sounded like he was caring for a small child rather than a grown man. But the genuine concern shining in Adam’s eyes, and the kindness in his voice just made Kris’ chest warm a few degrees. He couldn’t remember the last time – if ever – that someone had looked at him like that.

Adam stepped close to Kris, and touched his fingertips to Kris’ cheeks, tilting his head to the side a little bit so he could inspect the cuts and bruises. Adam swore softly under his breath.

“Dallon really is a monster. Now he’s never getting his hands on me.” Adam noticed amidst the purple bruised splotches and dried, flecked blood – a smudge of dirt smeared under Kris’ left eye. Adam swiped the tip of his thumb over his tongue, and gently wiped away the dirt with his thumb. Kris blushed the tiniest bit, his eyes trained upwards and transfixed on Adam’s mesmerizing bright blue eyes.

“Here’s the water,” Michael announced as he came in carrying a large basin filled with water. The moment of reverie was broken like scissors cutting a ribbon, and Kris and Adam looked away from each other.

“Thank you,” Adam said and stepped over to where Michael had placed the basin on the floor. “It’s all fresh water from the well?” Michael nodded. Adam kneeled down next to the basin and sunk the wash cloth into the depths of the clear, clean water. Michael left the room to return to his place as guard in the front of the tent, leaving Adam and Kris alone again.

While Adam worked the wash cloth under the surface of the water, making sure the whole thing got wet, he spoke to Kris over his shoulder, “If you’re comfortable with it, you should take off your shirt so I can clean all of your wounds.” Kris nodded, not thinking twice about it before tugging his ruined, bloody shirt off over his head. Adam stood up from his crouch next to the basin, the wet cloth in one hand. He pulled the stool in front of the vanity table over next to the basin. “Go on and sit here.” Kris nodded and sunk down into the chair, his hands folded in his lap.

First, Adam kneeled behind him. Kris held his breath until the felt the first gentle press of the warm, wet cloth to an open gash on his back. He hissed lightly at the touch, and Adam’s hand pulled back immediately.

“Does that hurt too much?”

“N-no,…it’s alright. They have to be cleaned.”

“Just tell me if I’m applying too much pressure.” Kris nodded, and then Adam laid the cloth back over the gash as lightly as he could. He pat the cloth over it gently instead of rubbing. He could see some dirt mixed in with the dried blood, and he cleaned it all away as carefully and gently as he could. He slowly made his way across Kris’ back, moving from cut to sore to bruise and cleaning them all as carefully and efficiently as he could.

“So, …how did it happen that you got stuck with Dallon?” Adam asked softly, his voice as soft as the movement of the cloth across Kris’ back, not applying any pressure to Kris to answer.

“My mother birthed me out of wedlock. By the time I turned seven and had been living hungry my whole life, she knew she didn’t have the money to keep a child. So she sold me. First, it was to a merchant caravan that moved from town to town buying and selling goods. I didn’t mind too much being with them. I took care of the camels, fed them and made sure none of them got sick. But when I was twelve, they sold me too. We had just come into this town, and Lord Dallon bought me at the market place. I’m twenty years old now, and I’ve been working for him ever since.”

Adam was silent for a few moments, still gently moving the cloth over Kris’ back. He knew that an ‘I’m sorry’ would do no good, so he didn’t try.

“And…how long has Dallon been doing….this?”

“Since I was thirteen and I accidentally dropped one of his dishes when I was cleaning them.”

“The filthy swine. I might have to have Michael go to his house and give him a taste of his own medicine.” Kris laughed lightly.

“That wouldn’t be necessary.”

Michael’s voice interrupted them, “Adam, you’ve got a hopeful.” Adam’s hand stilled for a moment against Kris’ back.

“Send him away!”

“He’s something of a looker. I think you’d like him.”

“I have more important things to worry about right now,” Adam called, ending his and Michael’s shouting-conversation. Adam focused again on cleaning Kris’ back.

A minute or so passed before Kris said shyly, “You don’t have to….do that..”

Adam snorted. “Don’t you even think of worrying about it, honey. Trust me, it’s no loss. Now let me move on to your front.”

Adam stood up and shifted around so he was kneeling in front of Kris. He dipped the cloth back into the basin and wrung it out before beginning to gently clean the cuts scattered across Kris’ chest. Kris wasn’t sure whether he liked it better with Adam in front of him and in sight. He found it a surprisingly difficult chore to keep his eyes from just staring at Adam’s face. He was so close, and his face still looked perfect. Kris could see that, unlike the day before, Adam didn’t have any powder or rouge blotted over his skin. Kris was sure that his natural tan, lightly freckled skin was more beautiful anyway. Kris looked at Adam’s hair for a moment, the long dark strands were swept back from his face, cascading down in perfectly-straightened lines to touch his shoulders. His hair looked incredibly soft, and Kris’ fingers itched with the urge to run them through Adam’s hair.

“What kind of bird is this from?” Kris asked, touching one finger to the long, brightly colored feather hanging from the thin rod through Adam’s earlobe.

Adam smiled lightly as he responded, “It’s from a bird called a peacock. I’ve never seen one, but a man who came in once gave it to me. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Kris nodded in agreement, his eyes skimming over Adam’s face again before looking away.

“Alright, almost finished. Now we’ve just got to take care of that pretty face of yours.” Adam shot Kris that charming smile as he dipped the wash cloth into the basin again. Kris looked down again so he wouldn’t blush.

Adam’s fingers came up to gently cup Kris’ chin, holding his head in place while Adam carefully dabbed at a cut right above Kris’ eye. Kris squeezed his eyes shut and let out a slight hiss of pain. Adam made a soothing noise as he moved on to the next cut. The next one only hurt worse, and Kris grit his teeth against the stab of pain. Adam touched the cloth to a particularly sensitive spot, and Kris yelped and his hands flew up on their own accord, clutching to the front of Adam’s loose white shirt. Adam hesitated for a moment, pulling the cloth back.

“I’m sorry I’m hurting you, but I can see some of these cuts really got some dirt and sand in them. They’ll only get worse unless I clean them now…” Kris nodded once, his eyes still closed and fingers still bunched in the material of Adam’s shirt. Adam lifted his hand again and, as gently as he possibly could, daubed the cloth to a cut on Kris’ cheek. Kris clung to the front of Adam’s shirt, kept his eyes closed, and he got through it. It wasn’t too long before Adam pulled back and told Kris, “There, I think I got all of them. I just have to bandage them now.” Adam went to get to his feet in order to fetch the bandages, but Kris’ hands clinging to his shirt stopped him.

“O-oh,…sorry,” Kris muttered softly, letting go of Adam right away.

“Perfectly alright,” Adam replied easily with a perfectly wide smile. He came back over to Kris a moment later with the bandages in hand. He unrolled some and wrapped it around Kris’ waist and around his shoulders, covering up as many of his wounds as he could.

While Adam was smoothing the bandages down over Kris’ back, Kris spoke softly, “Thank you. For doing all of this…” Adam smiled slightly, his fingers sliding over Kris’ shoulder to fix the bandages into places. He shifted around so he was kneeling in front of Kris, straightening the bandages over his chest.

“You deserve so much better than the life you’ve had.”

Adam didn’t get the chance to say anything more as Michael poked his head into the room at that moment. “Brad is here.” Adam immediately and quickly turned his head to face Michael, his smile growing. “He is? Tell him I’ll be right there.” Michael nodded and disappeared back to the tent’s main area. “I’m sorry Kris, but I have to take this one.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, it’s perfectly fine.”

Adam straightened up from his kneeling position on the floor, and stretched his back a little. He walked over to the mirror, and fixed his hair a bit with his fingers. Kris watched as Adam’s fingers danced in the air for a moment in indecision over the tubs of powder, rouge, and kohl that sat on the vanity table. After a few moments he picked up a thin brush, dipped it into the dark, charcoal-colored kohl, and painted perfectly symmetrical and even lines above and beneath his eyes. He pursed his lips for a moment at his reflection, before giving himself a slight nod. “You should use the water in the basin to wash the rest of your body, if you want,” Adam said to Kris before he swept through the doorway and into the main area.

Kris heard Adam’s voice exclaim, “Brad! What took you so long to come back to me?”

“Oh Adam, I would have been here weeks ago if it wasn’t for that damned trip I had to take.”

“Well never mind that, you’re here now.”

Kris actually felt his face heating up at the seductive purr he heard in Adam’s voice. But his curiosity spiked as conversation from the next room ceased. Kris stood up to peek through the hanging pieces of cloth in the doorway. Adam was wrapped around a shorter, slighter man, their mouths meshing deeply and intimately as Adam’s hands cupped the man’s face, tilting his head whenever need be. One of the man’s – Brad’s – hands slid around Adam’s waist, a few large, golden coins between his fingers. He slid his hand into the back of Adam’s leggings, right over his ass, and then slid his hand back out, leaving the coins under the waistband.

Adam pulled back when he felt the coins’ cold bite against his skin, and he smirked at the other man as he started pulling him over to the little secluded, cushioned area on the other side of the tent. Kris turned away, and shook off the strange unsettled feeling he’d gotten as he watched them. Kris went over to the basin to wash himself, like Adam had suggested.

 

Adam’s bed in his chamber was a large, wide cot. But unlike the one Kris had had in his servant quarters, Adam’s was layered with pillows and blankets, and looked soft and inviting. Kris had been eyeing it for the last ten minutes after he had finished washing and drying himself off. Obviously, he hadn’t slept well the night before as he’d been out on the streets. It was only early evening, but fatigue was already wrapping Kris up.

When Adam came back to his chamber from his time with Brad, he found Kris curled up in his bed, his face relaxed with a content expression as he slept soundly. A smile turned Adam’s mouth up as he watched Kris for a moment. Kris was quite a bit smaller than Adam, and was curled into a ball in the middle of Adam’s large bed, the blankets pulled up to his chin. As Adam looked at him, he couldn’t help but think of the last bed he himself had just been laying in. The thoughts came unbidden of naked, sweat-slicked skin, and moans from panting lips. Adam suddenly felt himself so terribly filthy; he didn’t even dare take a step towards Kris, sleeping innocently and peacefully.

Adam went over to the dresser in the corner of the room, and opened the bottom cabinet. He pulled out a few rolled up blankets and sleeping pads. He had planned on making Kris a bed from them, but it looked like the sleeping arrangements would have to be switched up for the night. Adam unrolled the soft, long sleeping pad and spread the blankets over top of it. The floor of his home was just carpets over the sand, so the ground wasn’t too hard to sleep on.

When Kris woke up, it was late morning, and he felt more rested than he could remember. He yawned and stretched his arms out above his head. He rolled over, marveling at how comfortable his bed had miraculously become.

“ ‘Morning, Kris.” Kris opened his eyes at the sound of Adam’s rich voice. Then Kris remembered. Right, this was Adam’s bed. He was with Adam, the prostitute he’d heard all those whispers and stories about. Kris’ sleepy eyes darted around a bit before they found and focused on Adam. He was kneeling next to the water basin, rubbing his wet hands over his face to clean it. His dark hair was brushed and looking as perfect as ever, pulled back behind a black bandana.

“Good day,” Kris mumbled, sitting up in bed. “I’m so sorry I took your bed. I was just so tired and…” Adam opened his eyes and held up a hand to stop Kris’ words.

“None of that. I’d like it back tonight though, I set up a bed for you too.” Adam nodded his head towards the other side of his room, where he’d set up the makeshift bed intended for Kris that Adam had wound up sleeping in himself the night before.

“Thank you.” Adam stood up and took the towel he had draped over his shoulders and slung it in Kris’ direction.

“Why don’t you clean yourself up while I prepare something to eat?” Kris nodded, picking up the towel so his eyes wouldn’t get caught up in all that bare skin above Adam’s waist. Adam turned and ducked out of the room, unaware of the effect he had on Kris. To Kris, Adam was so nonchalant about everything – the magnitude of what he had done for Kris, and of his own beauty and allure. It was the slightest bit irritating to Kris, because it meant that Adam felt perfectly comfortable sitting there shirtless and washing his face when Kris woke up. While it was obvious Adam was in fact quite knowledgeable when it came to his own looks and driving people insane with want, it was like he saw Kris as just excluded from the general population which Adam spent most of his time seducing. But the fact that Adam wasn’t making any conscious effort to captivate Kris didn’t mean his natural charm was just put out. Kris was quickly finding himself a victim to it all the same.

But it wasn’t just his looks, it was so much more than that.

 

Michael came in from outside just as Adam was giving the morning stew a few last stirs.

“How’s the weather?” Adam asked over his shoulder.

“It looks like it could rain any second now. I don’t think you’ll be getting too many people through here today. That’s what happens on days like this when you live out here in the Styx.”

“I know, I know, I should have set up in town center,” Adam scoffed with a smile and a practiced roll of his eyes. He carried the steaming pot over to the small table in the corner of the room and set it down on the tabletop. Michael brought over bowls before sitting down. While he ladled out some into each of the three bowls, Adam said, “Not to sound conceited but, if I had a place in town center you know I wouldn’t be getting any rest between all the customers I would have. I like being out here. And this way, if people really want to see me, they have to work for it.” Adam fell into one of the chairs and propped his legs up on the table as he picked his own bowl up. Michael just laughed with a fond smile as he started on his own breakfast.

They ate in silence for a few minutes, before Michael spoke up.

“So, what about the servant kid? Is he staying here?”

“For now, I believe so. There’s no way he’s going back to Dallon. The bastard’s been doing that to him since he was a kid.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. Dallon never struck me as a nice guy.”

Kris emerging from Adam’s room, wearing just his capri breaches. He hadn’t put his bloodied and torn shirt back on since when he’d removed it the previous day for Adam to clean his injuries. But Kris’ torso was so covered in bandages, it was like he was wearing a shirt anyway.

Adam looked over towards him and held out the third bowl to him. Kris shuffled over right away to take the bowl with a ‘thank you’. Once Kris had taken the bowl and was standing right in front of Adam’s chair, Adam reached over to feel a few of Kris’ bandages. “We’re going to have to replace these today. There’s still a little bit of bleeding going on. And it looks like you need a new shirt. We’ll go to the markets tomorrow when the weather’s nicer and there won’t be any rain.”

“You don’t have to do that…” Kris murmured as he sat down at the table with his own bowl.

“Of course I do. You should be getting a whole new wardrobe. Be glad I’m settling for only a tunic,” Adam said with a friendly, lean tone.

“He loves shopping a rather ridiculous amount,” Michael told Kris across the table, hiding the movement of his mouth behind his hand like it was a big secret. Adam just rolled his eyes and chuckled a little bit.

Comfortable silence stretched across the table. Adam kept glancing over at Kris every so often, and Kris would covertly shoot looks back. Neither of them noticed the other’s glances, though. Michael noticed everything.

The pitter-patter of rain began softly against the thick, sturdy roof of the tent. “There’s the rain,” Michael announced.

Just a few minutes later, the soft sound of footsteps through the sand approached the front entrance of the tent. Adam looked up, and Michael immediately got up from the table as a young boy stepped through the door. Michael immediately stepped close, towering over the boy. He looked up at Michael with wide eyes, and stuttered out in a wavering, frightened voice, “I-is this where M-Mister Lambert lives?”

Before Micheal could respond, Adam said from his seat at the table, “Yes, that would be me. Michael, you can step down. He’s just a kid.” Michael took a few steps back, but the boy still looked frightened. He looked only about nine or ten, and he stood there shivering slightly as rain water soaked through his hair and clothes.

“You’re a little young to be looking for me, aren’t you?” Adam asked, fixing the boy with a small smile.

“N-not me,…m-my master sent a message.” The boy produced an envelope from an inside pocket of his jacket. “I kept it dry for you.”

Adam smiled as he stood up from the table.

“Could you hold onto it for one moment more?” Adam disappeared into his room, and reemerged a short minute later. He had pulled a loose-fitting shirt on over his bare chest, and was holding a towel. He walked over to the boy, whose face looked the slightest bit afraid when Adam stopped right in front of him, almost twice as tall as him. Adam kneeled down in front of him with a kind, reassuring smile. He draped the towel over the boy’s head and rubbed it over his hair a little, getting out some of the dampness.

“Do you have a name?” Adam asked while he dried the boy’s face and shoulders.

“David,” he responded softly, looking less afraid.

“Well David, thank you so much for bringing me this message and keeping it dry.”

Adam took the envelope from the boy’s hand. David then gripped the edges of the towel Adam had draped over him and clutched it tightly around himself. He was still shivering slightly from cold. “I’m not sure what I think of this master of yours for sending you out in the rain,” Adam said while he turned the envelope in his hands and looked at it.

He looked back up at David before he opened it. “Have you eaten this morning?” David shook his head, but his face suddenly looked hopeful at the mention of food. Adam stood up and led the shivering boy over to the table with a hand on his back, and then pulled out an empty chair from the table for him. David sat down with the towel still wrapped around himself and Adam refilled his own empty bowl with hot stew and handed it to David. David chattered out a ‘th-thank y-you’ before he started eating quickly.

Kris was still sitting at the table, looking back and forth between David and Adam. Adam straightened up and looked back at the letter in his hand. Michael walked over to look at it as well. Adam whistled softly. “Look, it’s encrusted with jewels. Your master must be a character, David.” Adam opened the envelope and unfolded the high-quality paper inside. He handed it to Michael and Michael’s eyes skimmed over the lines of writing. As he read, Michael said aloud, “His name is Merrick. He wants you to visit his estate for a whole weekend next month.” Michael’s eyes traveled over the last couple lines, and then his eyes visibly bugged and he laughed suddenly. “Good God, for the amount he’s offering, the man must bathe in gold.”

“What do you think?” Adam asked while Michael rechecked the multiple-digit number in the last line of the letter.

“I think I don’t like it.” Adam sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

David was staring at Kris, and Kris was looking away, feeling a little uncomfortable.

“What happened to you?” the boy asked, eyeing Kris’ bandaged torso.

Adam looked over at David and sat down in the seat next to him, coming immediately to Kris’ aid. “He used to be a servant too, like you. But his master was really mean and did that to him.” David gave a slight nod, focused back on his bowl and started eating again. Kris was staring at Adam, the words ‘used to be’ tumbling around and around in his brain. Each of those three small words seemed to warm Kris’ body to the bone.

“David, what do you think of your master? Is he kind?” Adam asked. David shrugged as he chewed and swallowed.

“Don’t know him much. I only see him when he gives me messages.”

“Oh? What was he like when he gave you this one?”

“He said it was real important. Said I had to hurry and I had to go even if it rained.” Kris watched Adam as he visibly debated between accepting or rejecting the offer. Adam had his head propped up on his hand and his arm rested on the table.

“Have you ever seen him strike any of his servants?”

“One, yeah. But she deserved it. She was stealing from his gold or something like that.” Adam looked over at Michael, and the bigger man shook his head.

“I don’t like it, Adam,” Michael repeated. “I couldn’t go with you. You wouldn’t have anyone to stop him if he turns out to be some abusive monster.”

“He doesn’t sound like an abusive monster. And I think I would be able to handle myself for a few days.” Michael didn’t look any less opposed to the idea.

David finished his stew, and then sat back in the chair, curling up with the towel wrapped around him like a blanket. He looked much happier. Kris gathered up the bowls from the table, and carried them over to a small basin of water Michael had placed on the other side of the room. He kneeled down to start washing them. Adam watched him, but didn’t protest.

Adam finally clapped his hands together, his decision made. “Well David, here’s what. You’re going to stay here until the rain stops. Then, you can go back home and tell you master I accept his offer.”

“Adam-…” Michael started, his voice concerned.

Adam waved him off. “Don’t worry so much, it’ll be alright.”

David looked over at Adam, his eyes wide, and asked curiously, “If you don’t mind me asking……what exactly is it that he asked you?” Michael snickered a little to himself, and quickly made himself scarce, going over to help Kris with the dishes.

“Well….” Adam started, scrubbing a hand through his hair as he pondered his words. “He wants my company for a few days. You know,….those old rich guys, they get lonely.”

“Oh,…I see.”

 

The rain stopped about a half-hour later, and David set off back home. Adam saw him off, and then came back inside. He found Kris lounged in the cushions in the main area, looking through a book he had found.

“We should change your bandages, Kris.” Kris looked up with a ‘hmm?’ before nodding and standing up. He followed Adam back to his chamber and Kris sat down on Adam’s cot. His and Adam’s hands worked together to unwrap the dirtied bandages from his torso. They were dumped on the ground once they were removed. Adam dabbed the wash cloth again at a few of Kris’ wounds that were still weeping. Then Adam retrieved the roll of bandages and started wrapping fresh ones around Kris’ chest.

After a few seconds of sitting there silently while Adam worked, Kris said with his eyes fixed on no particular place on the floor, “What is it with you and helping servants?”

Adam let out a small, shallow laugh, and was quiet for a moment before answering. “I don’t know. I think it’s that I relate to them.” Both Adam and Kris were silent until Adam was done, his hands smoothing the bandages down to finish the job. “I may not have a master, …. but often it seems that I’m everyone’s servant.”

 

Kris would have been completely lost and overwhelmed by the crowd at the markets if it hadn’t been for Adam’s tall, strong presence in front of him, parting the crowd and leading Kris along by his hand. Whenever Kris had made trip to the markets for Lord Dallon, he would always keep to the outer stalls that only sold food, avoiding the huge, disorderly crowd that was constantly working its way through the center of the market place. Being back in the center of the crowd brought Kris right back to two days prior, when he’d been stranded in the market place with no home, no one, and nothing. Kris’ fingers curled more tightly around Adam’s hand, pulling himself back to the present where he was with the man who had rescued him. Adam felt Kris’ fingers tighten, and he looked back to give Kris a reassuring smile.

After only a little bit more pushing and weaving, they reached the clothing stalls. Kris took in all the different colors of sleek, shimmery fabrics, and when he looked over at Adam, saw the man was staring like he’d just reached Heaven.

Kris chuckled a little bit and gave Adam a slap to the back.

“Looks like Michael was right about your shopping fixation.” Adam ‘hmph’ed and rolled his eyes with a dismissive wave of his hand.

“Today we’re getting clothes for you, this isn’t about me..”

“Maybe so, but you’d be buying up this whole place if today was ‘about you’.” Kris made air quotes, and Adam elbowed him with a laugh.

“Come along, you.”

Kris was currently wearing his own breeches and a loose, flowing tan shirt Adam had lent him for the day. Kris had gotten dressed that morning all ready to go in his old bloodied shirt, and as soon as Adam had caught sight of him, had made this incredibly horrified noise and ushered Kris back to his chamber to give him a different shirt. Kris had insisted he was fine just for the trip to the market where he’d get new clothes, but Adam would hear nothing of it.

Kris was a complete lost cause when it came to clothes shopping, since he’d been wearing the same clothes practically all his life, and had never bought himself new ones. But Adam pulled him from stall to stall, holding up pants and tunics and robes to Kris’ body to see what fit him, and asking him what he liked. Kris’ response to everything was just a helpless shrug. After moving through a couple of stalls and not a word of preference from Kris, Adam moaned, “Kris, you’re killing me. Help me out, it’s not like I’m torturing you here.”

Kris shrugged again and laughed, “But I just don’t have a preference! You can pick out whatever for me. Whatever’s the cheapest.”

Adam tapped his chin with one finger, looking around the stalls with a thoughtful expression.

“I can pick out ‘whatever’ for you, huh?” Adam echoed. He suddenly hurried over to a stall, his eyes caught by something. Kris hustled after him, and found Adam holding up a brightly-colored tunic that looked like it was woven out of some type of feathers. It hurt Kris’ eyes to look at it. “I think this would be great for you!” Adam announced with a grin so wide and fake it looked like it hurt his face. “This looks great too!” Adam held up a robe of such obnoxiously bright yellow fabric, it looked like its own sun. Then Adam picked up a hat with feathers sticking out of it from every angle, and placed it on Kris’ head. “And that hat would just complete the outfit perfectly.”

Kris looked up at the ridiculous hat on his own head dubiously, looking a bit afraid the monstrous thing might attack him at any moment.

“You know…actually, I really kind of liked that blue tunic we looked at…”

Adam grinned and took the hat from Kris’ head and replaced it on the stall table.

“That’s what I was looking for.”

They walked back to the stand with the blue tunic. Kris picked it up again and looked at it carefully, cradling the soft fabric in his hands. The fabric of his own old clothes was rough and scratchy. Kris had never touched such nice, high-quality clothes. As soon as Adam saw the small smile appear on Kris’ face as he held the tunic, Adam handed the vender a few gold pieces he retrieved from the pocket of his robes to pay for it.

Adam picked up a light purple tunic and held it up for Kris to see. “This one’s soft too just like the blue one. The purple would look beautiful on you.”

Kris’ eyes filled with wonder as he looked at the beautifully-colored fabric.

“I’ve never seen colors like that before,” he said as he reached a tentative hand out for the tunic. Adam watched Kris handle the purple fabric with just as much reverence as the blue one, and he paid the vender for it right away.

“Let’s get you a simple white one as well, to sleep in.” Adam handed Kris a plain white tunic, but woven with the same heavenly-soft fabric.

“Adam…” Kris protested as he held all three shirts in his arms. “These are expensive. I don’t need so many.”

Adam had already paid for the third tunic.

“Don’t concern yourself with it. Trusts me, I brought more than enough.” Adam slid his hand into his pocket so Kris could hear the coins jingling inside. “Hold on tight to those, don’t let them get dirty,” Adam nodded at the clothes Kris was hugging to his chest.

Adam curled an arm around Kris’ shoulders to lead him away from the stall and back through the crowd. After only a few minutes, Adam sucked in a sharp gasp when his eyes caught the sight of a stall filled with shimmering, sparkling fabrics. He pulled Kris over to it right away. Adam bee lined for a white tunic that had an embroidery of beautiful glittering rhinestones alone the neckline and down the front. Adam picked it up, got one good look at it, and purchased it immediately for himself with the widest smile on his face.

“This has got to be the most beautiful tunic I’ve ever seen,” Adan intoned cheerily with a dreamy grin as he handed his new shirt to Kris to hold. He picked up a pair of simple, slim black pants. “It’s going to start getting cold soon, and I don’t want you to be shivering in those threadbare breeches.”

Adam had paid for them and handed them to Kris before the boy could protest.

“There,” Adam clapped his hands together as he inspected Kris’ armful of new clothes. “That should do for a while.”

Kris just stared at Adam with wide, wondrous eyes over the top of his pile of very nice, new clothes.

“What?” Adam asked when he noticed Kris’ stare. Kris immediately diverted his gaze to the ground.

“It’s…just that nobody’s ever bought me things before..”

As Kris spoke the soft words, his eyes looked at the ground and he hugged the clothes tightly to his chest.

Adam just watched him for a moment, a warm, liquid emotion he couldn’t quite identify unfurling and pooling in his chest. Then he smiled, and stepped forward to place his hands gently on either side of Kris’ face. Kris’ eyes skittered up to find Adam’s, surprised by the touch.

“Don’t think of me as the benevolent savior, Kris. All those other people you’ve been forced to spend your life with didn’t treat you right. They’re the unusual ones, not me.”

Adam wanted to say more, but he held his tongue. He wanted to say that Dallon and the merchants Kris traveled with should have valued him more, because he was wonderful and kind and hard-working. He wanted to say that Kris’ mother should have realized she couldn’t ever give up on the remarkable boy that was her son.

“Ready to go home?” Adam asked instead.

“Home?” Kris echoed, as if confirming that the word applied to him as well.

“Yeah, home.” Adam smiled. He tipped forward to press a tiny kiss to Kris’ forehead. “Let’s go.”

Kris linked his arm with Adam’s, holding their new clothes in his other arm. He held himself close to Adam’s side as the taller man pushed their way back through the crowd. The place on Kris’ forehead where Adam’s lips had touched tingled with a warm, pleasant sensation, and Kris held on tightly to Adam, not only for the purpose of making it through the crowd.

 

The walk back home wasn’t too long, but the heat was tireless.

“I should buy a camel. These trips would be so much shorter,” Adam sighed, wiping his brow as he and Kris finally approached the tent. Kris’ hand was holding onto the index finger of Adam’s other hand. Michael met them at the door as soon as they stepped inside.

“Mr. Ahmad sent a messenger this morning.”

Adam groaned in annoyance and distaste as he pulled his outer robe off. “Don’t tell me…”

“He’ll be here within the hour.”

Adam sighed heavily, massaging his temples with his fingers as he sunk down into the cushions.

“Who’s Ahmad?” Kris asked. He had set the clothes on the table and was in the process of neatly folding all the articles of clothing.

Michael told him, “He’s a very rich and influential merchant. And Adam’s his favorite.”

“Well he isn’t mine,” Adam interjected in an irritated voice, reaching for his pipe.

“He travels all over, and many people buy from him.”

“So if I don’t please him and give him a good time, he’ll spread the story everywhere of his wasted money,” Adam breathed out a mouthful of smoke along with the words while Michael returned to his normal post out in the front of the tent.

Kris really couldn’t say anything, so he just sat quietly at the table, watching the smoke drifting out from between Adam’s pink lips and wafting up and away through the air.

A few minutes later, Adam replaced the pipe and stood up from the cushions. “Well, I suppose I’d better get prettied up for him. Hand me my new tunic?” Kris tossed Adam’s new white, sparkling shirt to him, and Adam got a little smile on his face once he was holding the garment in his hands. He disappeared back into his chamber with it.

Adam wrapped himself in his new tunic, smiling as he did up the front and appraised himself in the mirror. It was definitely one of the nicest tunics he’d bought in a long while, with the glittering stones sewn onto the front, and the soft texture of the fabric against his skin. He took out his earring with the peacock feathers and charms, he knew it would only get in the way. He combed through his hair until it hung straight and glistening. Then he sat down in front of the mirror to powder his face.

As he worked routinely through the first step of dabbing and buffing foundation powder, he thought back to Kris’ face in the markets earlier in the day. Honestly, it saddened him that it meant so much to Kris, it was such a big gesture to him, just the simple, necessary thing of getting new clothes. Adam did have to admit though, that in that moment when Kris had stood there with that small, shy, grateful smile on his face as he hugged the clothes to himself like a lifeline, Adam had been completely charmed.

Kris was so completely different to the way Adam had come to know people to be. His whole life, Adam was used to people taking what they wanted from him without reserve or question. Kris wanted nothing of him. He was humble and gentle and kind. Kris deserved so much more than what life had given him so far. Adam thought again of that shy, thankful smile, and how Adam had been able to make him happy with just the new clothes. Adam wanted to make Kris happy more often. He wanted to give him more things, and see that wonderful happy smile again. He wanted to make Kris happy with gifts and affection and kindness. All his life, Adam had been giving up himself, sullying himself for others’ – not happiness, but lust and greed. But Kris was pure and kind hearted, and he made Adam feel almost that he himself was as well. And doing the things that made Kris happy made Adam happy as well – made him feel like a better person.

 

Kris was sprawled over the cushions with the book he’d been reading before, when Adam emerged from his room. Kris had to bite his lip to keep his mouth from falling open when he took in Adam’s appearance. He was wearing the new white, sparkling tunic with pure-white, tight pants that glided smoothly up his calves and thighs and fit like a second skin over his hips. His face was blended and smoothed over with powder, with shimmering, dark colors painted around his eyes. Whenever Adam blinked, Kris would find himself dazzled and stunned for a few seconds by the glittering makeup. Adam gave him the slightest smirk and wink. Kris dropped his eyes right away with a slight blush as Adam walked by him.

Adam went over to the secluded side area of the room and pushed back one of the surrounding curtains so he could fix and arrange the piles of cushions. While he fluffed them and set them down covering the floor, he said to Kris over his shoulder, “You’ll probably want to go outside when Ahmad gets here. He’s rather … loud and raunchy. Pretty unpleasant.”

Kris nodded, standing up from the cushions he’d been lying on. “Do you have any dirty clothes? I can bring them out to the well and wash them while I’m outside.”

Adam sat back on his heels, regarding Kris for a moment.

“What?” Kris asked self-consciously.

Adam shook his head with a small smile. “Nothing. But just … you know you’re not with Dallon anymore, right? Don’t think you have to bustle around doing chores all day.”

“I know, but I like doing little chores like that. They’re easy, and they’re something to do.”

“Alright,” Adam stood up with an amused smile. “Another thing you should know?” He walked back to his chamber with a few large strides, his bare feet stepping on the carpeted floor. Kris stepped in after him, and saw Adam drop a whole armful of clothes onto the floor. Adam dusted his hands off, rubbing them together, and finished his sentence, “I always have dirty clothes.”

“Mister Ahmad is here!” Adam took a long breath at the sound of Michael’s announcement.

“Well Kris, have fun with my clothes,” Adam said with a small smile before sweeping his long hair back from his beautiful, done-up face and strutting out to meet his customer.

“Good day, sir,” Adam said, his voice holding that smooth, powerful tone it got whenever he slipped into his seducer role. Ahmad turned to face him, his eyes sliding up Adam’s body and grinning when he saw what was about to be his.

“Ah Adam, I’ve been waiting impatiently for the chance to come see you again. This is the first chance I got.”

Ahmad was a tall, skinny man – about as tall as Adam – but Adam knew from past experience that he had remarkably strong arms connected to that scrawny body. Ahmad looked to be about in his fifties, but Adam had never cared to ask his age.

“I was waiting,” Adam purred with a smirk. Most of the time, all he was being paid to do was act. It was a blessing he was good at it. He sauntered forward, watching in satisfaction when the man’s eyes focused on his own swinging hips and they visibly darkened. Adam moved forward until he could slide his arms up around Ahmad’s shoulders and clasp his hands together behind his neck. “What did you bring me this time?” Adam smiled the slightest bit and kissed the man’s mouth as Ahmad’s hands came up to hold Adam’s hips. He tugged Adam in again and took another kiss before he retrieved a small chest from the floor, about large enough to fit in the palms of both his hands together. He opened the lid and Adam peered inside. His mouth actually fell open in wonder when he got a good look at the jewels inside.

“They’re rubies, carried from Asia.” Ahmad handed the chest to Adam, and he took it carefully. After looking at the beautiful, shining stones for a few moments, Adam set the chest down on the table, then he gave the older man a smile.

“Well I would say you have most definitely paid the fee, Mister Ahmad.”

“Indeed.” Ahmad reached out to grab Adam’s wrist none too gently and tug him in for a rough kiss. His hands started pushing at Adam’s shoulders and down. Adam didn’t go to his knees, the thought blaring in his mind of Kris walking out into the room with his arms full of Adam’s laundry and seeing.

“Wait, wait, come in here.” Adam pulled Ahmad into the small secluded booth off to the side of the room. Once behind the curtains, Ahmad settled back in the piles of cushions with a smirk on his face. Adam’s deft fingers started undoing the man’s pants, and he wet his lips with his tongue in preparation.

 

Kris had sat himself down on the floor of Adam’s room, and gotten to work sorting through Adam’s dirty clothes and determining the best way to wash each one. He only heard light murmurs of Adam’s conversation with his customer, and wasn’t able to hear any specific words. It was a few minutes before Kris started hearing the noises.

It started out soft, and then grew louder and rhythmic. It was unmistakably a man’s voice moaning. And it wasn’t Adam’s. It only grew louder, and then started combining with grunts and Adam’s name a few times in between. Kris hurriedly gathered up the clothes in his arms in a messy heap, and hurried outside. Adam had been right in warning Kris.

 

Ahmad’s clothes were off, and he was working on Adam’s. He fought with the younger man’s tight pants, panting as he kissed Adam roughly, again and again. Adam could sense his patron getting irritated, so he worked the tight fabric down his own hips so Ahmad could pull them off the rest of the way. By now, Ahmad was impatient and riled up, and his hands jumped immediately to Adam’s tunic. With a sharp tug upwards to pull it up over Adam’s head, there was a ripping sound. Adam looked down quickly, and saw the huge rip running up the front bottom half of the tunic. His eyes tightened as Ahmad pulled the ripped garment from his body.

“Y-you ripped it … it was brand new.”

“You can buy a closet-full more with those rubies,” the older man said dismissively while he maneuvered Adam face-down on the cushions. Adam’s fingers clutched the fabric of the cushions and he shut his eyes tightly as he gave in and submitted himself to the man’s hands.

 

Kris was airing out Adam’s freshly-washed clothes when Ahmad came out from the tent and went over to where his servant was watching their horses. Michael came outside, and he exchanged a few words with the man before he and his servant rode off. Kris beat the wet clothes a few times until they were almost dry.

Michael stayed outside while Kris went inside with the clothes in his arms. When he stepped through the door, he found Adam sitting in the middle of the floor, shirtless. Kris thought at first he had come inside too early, but then he saw the ruined tunic spread across Adam’s lap, and the expression on his face. Kris couldn’t possibly imagine Adam ever crying, but if he did, his current expression would probably have been what his face would look like if he did. His stunning blue eyes were dull and empty, and he looked both angry and unimaginably sad at the same time.

“It … it’s ripped?” Kris asked softly as he walked over to set the clothes down on the table.

“Yeah…,” came Adam’s soft voice, “And I can’t go back to the markets and get another … there were no other ones like it…”

Kris came over and sat down on the floor in front of him.

“Can I?” Kris asked, reaching for the tunic with tentative fingers. Adam nodded, and Kris picked it up carefully. He touched the rip with his fingertips. “I could sew it for you,” Kris offered, and Adam looked up at him.

“You could?”

“Yes, do you have sewing supplies?”

“Somewhere. I’m no good at sewing though, I’d have to find them.”

Kris inspected the rip some more. “I can fix it for you right now.” Kris smiled at Adam and stood up. A little bit of light returned to Adam’s face as he stood up as well and followed Kris back into his room. Kris sat down on Adam’s bed and spread out the tunic while Adam searched through the room for sewing supplies. After a few minutes, he brought a needle and a spool of white thread over for Kris. Kris flattened the tunic out over his lap before he threaded the needle. Adam sat down on the bed next to Kris, and watched silently as Kris poked the needle through the fabric the first time, and then began seamlessly sewing up the rip.

“You’re remarkably good at that.” Kris smiled a bit as he continued weaving the needle back and forth.

“I would hope so, considering how much sewing I’ve done in my life.”

It didn’t take Kris long to finish. Soon he was tying off the end of the thread and holding up the tunic to inspect his work.

“What do you think?” Kris asked, handing the tunic to Adam.

“I think it looks good as new.” Adam pulled the tunic back on over his head. When his face reappeared from under it, he was smiling his usual, easy smile again. Kris was glad to see the sad emptiness gone from his face.

“Thank you, Kris.” Kris just nodded and smiled in response. He handed the needle and thread back to Adam so he could put them away. Kris watched Adam from the bed as he sat down in front of the vanity table and started wiping off all the makeup from his face. It took longer than Kris would have expected. Kris looked down at the blankets he was sitting on, and fingered the cloth idly.

“Hey, Adam?”

“Mm?”

“Do you remember yesterday, when that servant kid, David, was here? He asked about my bandages and you told him I got them when I ‘used to be a servant’…”

“I remember.”

“And then, um….today, when we were coming back from the markets, you called here ‘home’ for both of us.”

Adam’s hands stilled from rubbing the wash cloth over his face, and he looked at Kris in the mirror. “I did, yeah.”

“Well,…I just wanted to know if… you really meant all that. That I can really stay here, … and I don’t have to be a servant anymore.”

“Of course I meant it.” Adam turned on the stool he was sitting on to face Kris. He just watched him for a moment before standing up and walking over to sit next to him on the bed. Kris looked up at him as he walked over, and then looked away, his fingers twisting in the blankets in a little bit of an embarrassed manner.

“Kris, listen. I don’t want you to think this is like the way it’s been for you before. There’s nothing keeping you here, you don’t have to stay here. But if you’d like it, yes, you can live here for as long as you wish.”

“I … I think I would very much like to stay,” Kris said with a small smile, his eyes still trained downwards on where his fingers played with the blankets.

Adam smiled, even though Kris wasn’t looking at his face. “Good, I’m glad to hear it, because I really like having you around.”

“You do?” Kris finally looked up at Adam’s face shyly.

“Yeah,” Adam smiled a bit wider. “And I promise, it’s not just because you wash and mend my clothes.”

 

The woman sitting in the cushions in the main area of the tent had on a long, flowing dress of bright colors. Her long, dark hair was tied back behind her head, and one elegant, sandaled foot with painted toenails tapped on the floor. Adam walked out from his room, tying the waistband ties to his black robes, the same ones he’d worn when Dallon had visited and Adam had met Kris for the first time. The woman looked up at him, and Adam smiled when he saw her.

“That dress is the best thing I’ve seen all week.”

She laughed and ran her hand down the soft fabric. “You like it?”

“I love it. I’d wear it myself if men around here were into that.”

“Well I’d be into it.” She produced a small change purse and jangled the coins inside, raising a perfectly plucked eyebrow in Adam’s direction. “You take women?”

“Only sometimes. But you’re my type, let’s get to it.”

Once they took care of the necessary financial details, Adam extended a hand down towards where she was lounged in the cushions. When she placed her hand in his, he swept her up against him with an arm hooked around her slim waist.

“Ladies first,” he said with a grin, pointing out the way to his curtained-off work area with a gesture of his hand.

 

“I wasn’t expecting Adam to take her.”

Kris was outside at the well washing the dishes from their morning meal. Michael was helping a little. Kris continued, “I’ve never seen him with women before.”

“She was quite a looker.” Michael shrugged a bit. “And with Adam, he’s much less picky with who he works for if he’s not going to be the one…urm,…on the receiving end.” Kris gave the other man a blank look for a few seconds, before he understood and quickly made himself busy with the dishes again.

“Oh.”

Michael looked up to the sky, at the dark clouds that were rolling in to cover and blot out the blue heavens. “It’s going to storm today for sure.”

Kris looked up at the darkening sky while he piled up the clean dishes. He visibly debated with himself for a few moments, his eyes moving back and forth between the sky and the door to the tent and he stood there hesitating, before he said “I’m going to bring these inside.”

As Kris turned towards the tent with the dishes piled in his arms, Michal said after him, “Kris, don’t get scared off. You know there’s more to him than that.”

Kris paused, standing there still in the sand with his eyes trained on the doorway where he had been headed.

He didn’t look back at Michael, but he said softly, “Why would I ever judge him for it?” Kris then looked back over his shoulder at Michael so that the man could see Kris meant what he said. “He’s the kindest person I’ve ever met. I know better.”

 

Kris knew he would hear things if he went inside while Adam was still with the woman, but Kris made his way quickly over to the cupboard and slid the clean dishes onto the shelves inside. He walked back to Adam’s chamber, listening involuntarily to Adam and the woman’s intercourse. Kris looked around his corner of Adam’s room for his clothes so he could change out of his white sleep tunic. He could hear the woman making loud, breathy, pleasured noises. But underneath those, the air was peppered with soft noises from Adam. His moans were feathery, fluid, smooth, rich, and silky. Kris fumbled hurriedly to get dressed. His body tingled with heat from his hair to his toes as he hurried back outside.

Kris was sitting in the sand, watching the sun make its regular journey across the sky when the woman came out from the tent and left. It was only a matter of minutes before Adam burst out from the door and sprinted full-force to the well. Kris watched with an amused expression, and stood up to go over to the well, where Adam had folded himself over the side and was drinking straight from the bucket.

“I don’t think you have any idea how hilarious you look running like that.” Adam chugged down a good quarter of a bucket full of water before straightening up again and looking at Kris. “You know,…women are good and gentle and nice and all, but…” he made a face, sticking his tongue out. “Excuse my vulgarity, but I still have not gotten used to how absolutely disgusting women taste to me in the nether region.” Adam grabbed for the bucket again, and Kris just started laughing.

Kris spotted Michael standing in the doorway to the tent, watching Adam with mirth on his face before he joined in with Kris’ laughter.

 

Adam had noticed Kris reading the books he had around the tent. When Kris sprawled out for the afternoon on the cushions in the tent’s main area to read some more, Adam crouched down on the floor next to him to see what he was reading.

“What kind of books do you like?” Adam asked when Kris looked up at him from his reading. “We should get you some more. It must be boring for you around here.”

“Oh, it’s not, I’m fine with these books. You still have a few I haven’t read yet.” Kris looked down at the book in his hand, turning it over and running his fingers down the book’s old spine. “But I like fantasy books, that can take me to places I never imagined before. I like romance, too. There’s nothing better than the feeling you get at the end of a book where the boy and the girl finally realize they’re in love and stay together for ever.”

Adam smiled faintly, nodding that he knew exactly what Kris meant. He looked away from Kris’ face after the other man’s comment, looking wistful and letting out a soft sigh.

Adam stayed silent for a while, and Kris returned his attention to his book. Adam finally spoke up a few moments later, “We’ll get you some more books, all romance and fantasy that you’ll love. You’ll have to come along with me to the markets though, to pick them out. To be honest, I only have a rudimentary reading ability. When I decide to read a book it takes me ages, so I might not be able to tell at the markets what books are what.”

Kris looked up at him, “Sure, I’ll come. But I didn’t know that about you…..”

Adam sat stretched out on the floor, leaning back on his arms with his long legs extended. Kris dwelled for a moment on the fact that, really, he hardly knew anything about Adam. Adam’s words regarding his learned reading ability hung in the air. Kris waited silently to see if Adam would tell him anything more. Adam’s face was serious, and his eyes glazed over with a distant look as he watched memories long past. Adam didn’t say anything. The crack in the door that had opened slammed shut on Kris’ curiosity.

Kris tried reaching out to him instead. “After we get books, I could read them to you. I bet you get bored too.”

Adam slid back into the present, where he was sitting with Kris. Sometimes it was a literal battle to pull himself out of his past when his mind started wandering there. Adam cleared his throat and sat up a bit. “Just to clarify, I can read,” he said to Kris with a teasing smile, “I’m just not the best at it.”

“Oh, I know, I didn’t mean to insult you. I was just offering…”

“No, no – it’s fine. I would love it.” He smiled at Kris. “It just so happens, I love fantasy and romance stories too. And it would sure be a lot less work for me.”

Kris nodded with a small smile, and then they were sitting there smiling at each other.

Peaceful, happy moments never seemed to last long, though. Michael pushed the cloth door aside as he stepped inside. “There’s a Mister Darial here who wants to see you. He’s with a servant, and he’s definitely wealthy.” Kris, having been so focused on Adam only minutes before, didn’t miss the slight slump of Adam’s shoulders and the sigh before he stood up and nodded. “Send him in in a few minutes. I have to powder.” Michael nodded before going back outside. Adam went wordlessly back to his chamber. Kris watched his back disappear through the doorway. Usually, Adam reacted with insouciance to the arrival of customers, he was unflappable. Yet sometimes – it seemed to be whenever he and Kris were talking or just spending time together – he was visibly disheartened when he was reminded what was expected of him.

Darial came inside after a little while, and Kris inspected him furtively from over the top of his book. The man was dressed in an ornate black jacket made of expensive-looking material. He had dark hair and a dark beard. Kris guessed he was probably in his forties. When Darial saw Kris, he raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

Kris said immediately, “Oh, I’m not Adam, if that’s what you’re thinking. Don’t worry, he’s much more attractive than me.”

“Hmm. I don’t know if I’d agree.” The man took a few steps closer to the cushions where Kris was lying. “You’re awfully pretty,” his voice was all flirtation and patronizing. “Are you for sale too?”

“No. Touch him and I’ll have you thrown out on your ass.” Both Kris and Darial turned to face where Adam was standing, intimidating eyes boring straight into Darial. “It’s me or nothing.” He had blended powder over his face, and painted dark lines around the sides of his eyes, accentuating them. Darial stood upright with a smirk from where he’d been bent over Kris.

“Wow, I’m surprised, you were right,” the man muttered to Kris with a wink.

“Kris, go outside,” Adam said in a voice that was certainly not to be trifled with. His eyes didn’t move from Darial for a second. Kris nodded and scrambled to his feet. He grabbed his book and couldn’t have been happier to get out of there.

 

When Kris got outside, he found Darial’s servant sitting on the lip of the well. He looked a couple years younger than Kris, but not too far from his own age. Kris usually sat next to the well and leaned back against the wall of it when he read outside, so he walked over towards the well and sat down in the sand. The servant boy looked at him curiously when he saw Kris come out from the tent.

“You a servant here?” he asked Kris.

Kris was silent for a second, looking off into the distance at nothing. “No, I’m not.” Kris had never been more proud of his words before.

“What are you doing here then? You don’t look wealthy enough to be spending time with a prostitute.”

Kris winced the slightest bit at that last word, but if the servant noticed, he didn’t take it back or apologize.

“I’m not a servant, and I’m not a customer. I’m Adam’s friend, and I’m living here with him.”

“Living with a prostitute?” He let out a sudden, harsh-sounding laugh. “That must be even worse than being a servant.”

Kris turned back to face the boy, about to demand why he was talking like that. Their confrontation was interrupted when rain started falling, slicing through the air to land on their faces and hair. They both jumped to their feet and hurried inside before the rainfall could get heavier.

Kris was glad that the tent was quiet, so he and the servant wouldn’t have to sit together in that awkward atmosphere. Darial didn’t make any noise, and when his customers were silent, so was Adam. Kris sat back down in the cushions and buried his nose in his book, trying to block out the servant’s presence and his unpleasant attitude. It was hard to ignore him, though, when he was walking around inspecting and poking at everything in the room. He actually opened the cupboard and started clattering around with the dishes, when Kris snapped, “Do you mind personal property?”

“Not really,” he replied without even a look in Kris’ direction. “Especially not a whore’s.” Kris’ fingers tightened around the pages of the book.

“You think Adam’s job makes him any less of a person? That he shouldn’t be respected because of it?”

“Of course it does.” The boy still didn’t look at Kris, and spoke like he was talking to an incompetent child.

“Then I pity you and your pathetic view of the world.”

That finally made the servant boy turn to look at Kris, appraising him with critical eyes. Kris just hid his face behind his book again. The boy strode across the room and leaned in close, looking at Kris around his book.

“And how’d you get your grand view of the world? Hm? Please enlighten me about our society, because I’ve obviously missed how one should behave towards whores.”

Kris didn’t respond, but the boy just stayed where he was, leaning over Kris and staring down at Kris’ face over the top of his book. “Oh, stop hiding behind that book. I bet you can’t even read.” He knocked the book from Kris’ hands. Kris started and stared at him with shock. “I know…” the boy mused as he stared Kris down. “You were an uneducated street rat that even a whore took pity on.”

Kris’ fingers tightened almost painfully in the fabric of the cushions, and he glared back defiantly into the boy’s eyes.

“But he wouldn’t have done it for free,” the servant jeered at Kris, “I bet he saw your little face and couldn’t resist. Does he keep himself in shape with you? Does he practice on you?”

Kris shoved him, hard. Once the boy stumbled back, Kris shoved him again, down to the ground. Even on the ground, the boy didn’t desist. “Oh, so it’s just for money? I should have guessed, money’s all that matters to whores. I bet yours is so greedy for some change, he’d suck any cock that walked through the door.”

Kris really, really wanted to kick him, but he didn’t. He knew it would only bring the lowlife satisfaction to see that his words had riled Kris up. Instead, Kris countered with venomous, powerful words, “Adam may sell his body for a living, but if you had any kind of sense you’d know there’s more to someone than what they do for work. You’re obviously far more obnoxious to yourself than you are when you’re working for your master. As for Adam, he’s ten times the man you are. People who hate themselves try to tear down their betters, and that’s why you’re here insulting Adam, and Adam’s doesn’t speak badly of anyone.”

The boy finally looked genuinely affected and shocked from where he was sprawled on his back on the ground. There was silence for a few seconds, and even if he was trying to think of a reply, he didn’t get a chance to say it. Right then, Michael came into the room, his face thunderous.

 

When Darial came out from the curtained-off area, he had an obscenely sated expression on his face as he did up the front of his coat again. When he saw only Kris and Michael sitting inside the tent and out of the rain, he asked, “Where’s my servant?”

“Outside,” Michael stated.

“In the rain?!”

Michael didn’t even grace the man with a glance.

“He was running his incompetent mouth off about Adam, and that doesn’t fly around these parts.”

Darial made an incredulous sound. “You kicked him outside for insulting a whore?” He laughed, but it wasn’t a laugh like anything was funny. It was condescending and spiteful. Adam emerged right then from the parted curtains behind Darial. Darial’s back was to him. “He may have been a hell of a good fuck for the price, but that doesn’t mean he deserves anyone’s respect.”

Adam moved past Darial like he hadn’t heard, just walking fluently and without a hitch, back to his chamber. Kris watched him, his eyes soft and chest hurting for him. Adam disappeared silently through the doorway.

Michael was really pissed now. “Don’t worry about buttoning up your nice jacket, because I’m about to throw you out into the dirt. And you’re paying double.”

“You must be joking..” Michael grabbed the man’s arm and wrenched him to the door. Michael practically tossed the man out the door, and he wouldn’t have to do much muscling to get the double fee out of him.

 

Kris sat there silently for a few minutes. He heard Michael, Darial, and the servant’s voices outside, but his ears were paying attention to the opposite direction – Adam’s room. Not a sound had come from it. Kris debated with himself for a few minutes before standing up. He parted the cloth curtains in the doorway with his hands, asked, “Adam?” and came into the room. Adam was sitting at the vanity table, and Kris had seen him grab hastily for a cloth on the tabletop.

“Yes? What is it?” His voice was flawless in its inflection, as always. In the mirror, Adam’s face was perfectly calm and unaffected as he started wiping his makeup away. Kris looked hard though, and he could just barely see the faint, wet tracks of kohl down his cheeks. Adam wiped them away.

Kris swallowed and his gaze dropped to the ground. He said softly, “Nothing.”

 

The rain developed into a storm, the gentle rain turning to sheets of pelting raindrops, and a numbing cold front coming with it. It was late, and Kris was lying in his bed shivering. His bed on the ground had a draft blowing right over it as the wind moved across the floor from under the front door of the tent. Kris was usually warm and cozy in his bed, but tonight he couldn’t seem to warm up any part of his body no matter how tightly he wrapped himself up in the blankets.

He laid there for a while before he heard Adam’s voice coming from his own bed across the room, “I can hear your teeth chattering from here.” Kris opened his eyes, and saw the silhouette of Adam’s figure shifting in his bed. “If…..you don’t mind sharing the space with me, … you can come up here. It’s warm and out of the draft.”

Kris immediately kicked his own blankets off and walked over to Adam’s bed, shivering violently. Without a doubt or an extra second, he slid into the bed next to Adam. As Kris was maneuvering his way in, his arm brushed Adam’s hand.

“Goodness, you’re freezing!” Kris’ skin was ice-cold, and Adam could feel Kris shivering from the other side of the bed. He passed over some more of the blankets to Kris so he could wrap himself up in them.

Adam slid over all the way to the opposite side of the cot. He didn’t want to have to face Kris’ discomfort or complaints if Adam was lying too close. Adam thought back to when he had taken Kris to the markets for clothes, and when Kris had reacted so bewildered and honored, Adam had kissed his forehead in a totally spur-of-the-moment thing. Kris hadn’t minded. But since then, Kris had seen with his own eyes all the men coming and going, and Adam wondered what he thought now.

Adam had been right about his bed being warmer, Kris could feel the difference immediately. He snuggled down in the blankets, but his shivering wasn’t stopping. He felt the bed shifting, and looked over to see Adam moving away to the other side of the bed.

“W-why are you m-m-moving? Body heat w-would help…”

Adam just looked over at Kris’ face and trembling form for a few moments before wiggling half the distance back across the bed. He found one of Kris’ arms and started rubbing a hand back and forth over his arm to warm up his cold skin. After a few minutes, Kris mumbled between chattering teeth, “D-do the other one,” and pulled his arm from Adam’s hands to replace it with his other.

They laid there for a few minutes comfortably, separated by a few feet as Adam warmed up Kris’ arms with his hands. But even after a short while, Adam could still feel Kris trembling a bit. The skin on his arms definitely felt warmer, but Adam wondered about the rest of his body. But he was also wondering what Kris thought of sharing a bed with him. He had asked Adam to help warm him up, but that didn’t mean Kris wanted him all in his personal space. He definitely hadn’t objected to Adam warming his arms though…

After watching Kris lie there shivering for a few more moments, Adam finally just threw one arm over him, curling it loosely around his shoulders. Kris turned his head in against Adam’s shoulder, scooting the tiniest bit closer.

“Is this okay?” Adam asked in the softest voice Kris had ever heard.

“ ’s wonderful.” Adam blinked, and they laid there silently, together. “You’re so warm…,” Kris murmured wondrously.

It didn’t take long for Kris’ shivering to stop now. He closed his eyes as he laid with his side against Adam’s, and Adam’s arm over his chest and shoulders. He could really feel his body finally warming up now. Not only was he warm, but he was unbelievably comfortable, too. Adam’s bed was incredibly soft and cozy. Kris had never slept with another person’s body sharing the space, and he quickly decided he liked it.

Kris was half lulled to sleep by the warmth and comfort, Adam’s arm still around him, when he heard Adam say to him gently and just barely above a whisper, “I heard what you said to that man’s servant today on my behalf.” Kris was awake again, but he didn’t know what to say. Neither did Adam, for a few seconds. Then, he just murmured, his voice more impassioned, “Thank you.” His fingers curled in the material of Kris’ tunic.

Kris thought of the tear tracks he’d seen on Adam’s face earlier. He searched around for Adam’s other arm that wasn’t around him, and found his hand. He laced their fingers together loosely. Adam’s breath hitched the slightest bit in surprise, but neither of them moved an inch.

 

Kris awoke in his own bed to the sound of voices from the main area of the tent. His eyes blinked open slowly, taking in the brightness of the morning sun. He sat up, stretched, and rubbed his eyes. He looked over to Adam’s empty bed, and thought back to that cold night several days ago when he’d shared Adam’s bed with him. They had awoken just as close together as they had fallen asleep, Kris’ chin against Adam’s shoulder and their fingers touching. Adam had quickly scrambled out of bed before Kris had a chance to really take in the situation.

Kris changed out of his sleep tunic and into clothes for the day, still hearing the discussion coming from outside Adam’s room. One of the voices was Adam’s, but the other wasn’t Michael’s. Once dressed, Kris slid out through the curtained doorway of Adam’s chamber. He immediately saw Adam seated at the table with a smaller man seated close right next to him. They both had their arms resting up on the table, and the closer arms to each other linked. They had been laughing about something together and the other man pressed his face against Adam’s shoulder while his shoulders shook with laughter. Adam’s laughter lessened to snickers when he saw Kris, but his smile didn’t shrink at all. Kris placed the other man as the same one who had come the day Adam had taken Kris in, Kris remembered his name was Brad.

“Morning, Kris. Michael has the stew outside if you’re hungry.”

Kris nodded, looking at Brad quickly before diverting his gaze. He could see Adam giving him the subtle ‘you should probably go outside’ look that he often shot the younger man whenever customers came in. Kris understood that it wasn’t because Adam wanted privacy, but for Kris’ own good. He didn’t want Kris to have to see.

Kris dallied inside for a minute, looking around for one of the books Adam had bought for him when they had gone to the markets a few days ago. While Kris looked around the room for it, he could hear Adam and Brad conversing lightly, about clothes and fashion trends and the new scarf Brad was sporting. Kris finally found his book, and as he slipped out, Adam said, “That scarf is the perfect color for you, though. It doesn’t matter how much you paid for it.” His hands gripped the ends of the scarf lightly and tugged Brad in closer. “It makes me want to kiss you over and over.”

Kris had seen Adam act for men he despised but were too influential for him to turn away. Adam wasn’t acting for Brad.

 

As far as customers go, Brad was the perfect man. He was alike to Adam in taste and style, and they had gotten on marvelously since the first time Brad had visited. He was great in bed for Adam, since Brad always wanted to receive, and Adam greatly appreciated all the customers who preferred that. It was rare that Adam found himself actually attracted to the men he slept with, but he was ridiculously attracted to Brad. Adam had distaste for all the bigger men who would push and hold him down, so he appreciated Brad’s slight, gentle body. He didn’t charge Brad as much as he did usual customers, because he actually enjoyed sharing his body with him. He was always wishing Brad would come more often.

They usually wound up just sitting together and talking for a while before they actually got around to the sex. Another thing Adam liked about Brad was that he didn’t make Adam feel that the only thing he was good for was sex. Adam considered them friends. He didn’t delude himself though, he knew the main reason Brad kept returning was the service Adam was infamous for.

This morning, it was a long while before Adam and Brad were moving towards the private area of the tent, arms wrapped around each other and kissing deeply. Once Adam closed the curtains behind them, he spread Brad out on the cushions, got his shirt out of the way, and kissed slowly and wetly down his chest. Brad moaned softly, his fingers stroking through Adam’s hair. Adam’s lips trailed slowly back up to Brad’s mouth, and Brad clutched him close as Adam pressed their mouths together tightly, his tongue sinking past Brad’s lips. Brad’s hips rubbed up against Adam’s, making fiery friction. Adam relished the tingling twist of arousal as his cock quickly hardened between their bodies. Adam nudged Brad’s legs apart before he loosened the ties of his own clothes, and moved back down Brad’s body.

 

Kris sat on the lip of the well with Michael, eating his bowl of stew while he watched the sun advance across the sky. He and Michael had been sitting next to each other for the past half hour, but no conversation had been shared. Kris had gotten to know Michael as a man of few words, but he enjoyed the larger man’s company none the less. Instead of intimidating like Kris had first thought him, now Kris found his presence comforting and peaceful.

Kris had finished eating and was cleaning his bowl with water from the well when Michael spoke up.

“Has Adam told you anything?”

Kris looked up at him, a puzzled expression on his face.

“What do you mean? …About what?”

“Anything about himself.”

Kris looked back down at the bowl he was washing.

“Not really, no. When we went out to get books, he told me he can’t read that well, but that’s it.”

Michael didn’t respond, or even show any sign that he had heard. Kris had sat back down on the opposite side of the well from him when Michael finally said, “He’s really private about it, but you should ask him to sing for you sometime. He only does it when he thinks nobody’s listening, or when something’s so bad he can’t get it out of him in words. But he’s got the voice of an angel. Better.”

“Really?” Michael nodded, looking up at the sky instead of at Kris.

“I think he’d let you hear.”

Kris eagerly filed away this new little bit of knowledge about Adam. Kris wanted more and more each passing day to know more about him.

 

Brad didn’t leave until the early afternoon. When he finally did, Adam kissed him a few last times, and saw him off at the door.

Adam stood in the doorway for a while, watching Brad walk off into the distance. He just didn’t understand. Why did Brad still leave every time? Why did he still just smile at the door and promise to come back ‘when he could’? It wasn’t fair.

Once Brad disappeared from sight, Kris walked past Adam to go inside, carrying the dishes with him. Adam heard Kris call, “Adam, can you help me put these on the top shelf? I can’t reach!”

Adam turned away from the horizon and followed Kris inside.

 

While Kris sat at the table reading, he noticed Adam flitting about from room to room, carrying things back to his chamber from the main area.

“What are you doing?” Kris finally asked when curiosity got the best of him.

Adam waltzed out of the room one more time before returning.

“Remember that boy, David? He brought the message from Merrick asking me to go and visit him?”

“Oh yes…now that you mention it, I do.”

“That weekend’s not too far away. For the amount of money he offered, he probably lives in a mansion estate and wears silk all the time. I can pack only my nicest things, and I might have to go buy some finer robes.”

“I see. Do you need help?”

“No, no, don’t you even think about leaving your book to come help me. You stay right there at that table.” Then Adam disappeared back into his chamber.

Adam had just come back into the room when Michael came in from outside

“We have a bit of a problem. I just spotted Lord Dallon on his way here. He’ll arrive in a couple minutes.”

Kris practically jumped up from the chair, his face immediately going ashen white. Adam looked over at him concernedly.

“Oh God….Oh God, oh God, oh God…..if he finds me…” Kris whispered, his hands coming up to cover his face as his body started visibly trembling. Adam hurried over to him.

“It’s okay darling, he’s not going to find you.” By this point, Kris’ breath was all coming out as gasps.

“Kris, shhhhh.” Adam lifted a hand to stroke Kris’ hair back gently, and Kris finally looked up from his hands. “Listen to me,” Adam said, combing Kris’ hair back with his fingertips as Kris tilted his head up to look at Adam’s face. “Go back to my chamber, don’t make any noise, and don’t take a step out of there before I come back and tell you it’s alright.”

They didn’t have much time, so Adam gave Kris a gentle push in the direction of his chamber. This seemed to wake Kris up, and he nodded and stumbled over his own feet to get through the doorway.

It was only seconds later that Adam heard Michael greeting Dallon outside. Adam realized then that he had to compose himself as well. All of a sudden, he vividly remembered cleaning and bandaging all of Kris’ wounds and sores, and the man standing just outside was the one who had done all of that to him. Adam wanted to hurt him, pay back all of the pain he had caused Kris.

But Adam knew he couldn’t. Right now, he had to protect Kris, and make sure he didn’t fall into the monster’s hands ever again.

Adam heard Michael raising his voice at Dallon outside, telling him to leave and that Adam didn’t want to see him. Adam could tell he wasn’t leaving, though. He took a deep breath before walking through the door of the tent.

Dallon smirked wide as soon as he saw Adam appear. Adam felt bile rise in his throat when he saw the man looking just as smug and haughty as ever.

“Hello again, Adam,” he drawled. “How are you doing today? Feel like not being stupid anymore and taking me up on my last generous offer?” he asked, referring to the giant chest of jewels he’d made Kris carry the last time he had been there. Dallon leered at him, and lowered one of his hands to grab his own crotch for a moment.

Adam made a face that showed the embodiment of disgust, and spit on the sand before Dallon’s feet. “I don’t know why you bother coming anymore. You’re lower than dirt, Dallon, and I would never waste a moment of my precious youth and beauty on you.”

Adam turned back towards the tent, giving Michael an obvious look over his shoulder as he did so.

“Don’t ever come back here.” Adam said with finality.

It only took a few seconds for Dallon to try retaliating with, “Like I’d take orders from a whore!”

Michael gave Adam a push on the back to get him the rest of the way inside before Michael stepped in front of the doorway.

“You don’t want to listen to what he says? Then how about you take my blade’s word for it.” Michael tugged the outer layer of his robes aside, and drew the sword he kept hidden and only resorted to for exceptionally unruly or violent visitors.

Dallon finally stumbled back a few steps when he saw the long, shining blade.

“Scram,” Michael growled. Dallon tried to stand his ground for a few moments, but then he finally turned and left, walking quickly and glancing behind him every few seconds.

Michael remained an immovable force before the door of the tent until Dallon was long out of sight.

 

Adam went back to his chamber. “Kris?” he asked as he parted the cloth hangings of the door and stepped inside the room. Kris had been sitting on Adam’s bed, with one of the blankets pulled tightly around himself for comfort. When he saw Adam come in, he jumped to his feet immediately, looking both frightened and in need of whatever Adam was going to tell him.

Adam looked at the fear that was so clear over Kris’ face and he found himself walking over to him immediately. Adam always tried to keep his distance from Kris because he didn’t want Kris to think badly of him, but seeing Kris standing there looking so terribly frightened made something in Adam’s chest twist painfully.

Adam smiled gently at Kris, and told him, “Dallon’s gone. Everything’s okay. Michael threatened him off, and he has no idea you’re here.”

“E-everything…..everything’s fine?” Kris’ eyes were still swimming with fear.

Adam nodded and, before he could think better of it, wrapped his arms gently around Kris to assuage him. After only a few seconds, Kris buried his face into Adam’s shoulder, and held onto him tightly. “I was so scared,” he whimpered softly. “So, so scared….”

“Hush, it’s alright,” Adam soothed in his silk voice, and kissed the top of Kris’ head as lightly as the touch of a feather.

 

Kris was tidying up Adam’s room – a habit he had developed to always want to keep everything clean –, while Adam sat in front of the vanity table, preening for the day. He was humming softly to himself while he smoothed a comb through his hair. He ran his fingers through the long strands a few times, fluffing and fixing them until they laid against his shoulders just right. Then he moved onto his eyebrows, combing and trimming the short hairs until they stood in perfectly symmetrical, thin lines. Kris was airing out Adam’s blankets, shaking them in the air while he listened to Adam’s soft humming.

It was then that Kris finally asked what he had been thinking for a while now, “Do you sing at all? You know, … I would love to hear sometime.”

Adam’s hand stilled from where he’d been poking at a tiny red blemish on his nose, and his eyes fixed on Kris in the mirror, just watching him for a few seconds with an unreadable expression. Kris was just starting to get nervous when Adam chuckled and focused back on his nose’s imperfection.

“Michael told you to ask me that, didn’t he?” Kris nodded as he made Adam’s bed with fresh seats. “The bastard.”

Kris looked over at Adam again, but his mouth was turned up in a little smile like something was amusing, and he was dabbing a skin-colored gel over the blemish to hide it.

“Why do you say that? It’s fine if you don’t want me to hear…”

“No, I just forget sometimes how quick Michael is on the uptake.”

Kris didn’t get it, and his confused expression showed it.

“Don’t worry about it.” Adam wiped his own words away with a vague wave of his hand over his shoulder. “I guess I could sing something for you, if you really want to hear.”

Kris sat down on Adam’s freshly-made bed, and curled his legs and bare feet up in front of him. “I kind of do.”

Adam was quiet and kept dabbing at his nose for a few seconds, as Kris sat there silently. Adam finally sighed softly and shifted around on the chair to face Kris.

“I have to explain something to you, though.” Adam folded his hands in his lap, and focused down on his fingers as he threaded them together and twisted his hands a little. He was wearing loose black pants, and he had colored his nails with black paint. His fingertips blended into his dark pants as they danced along his thigh. “Singing is something that’s really close to my heart. When I was little, some people told me that my voice was my God-given gift, my talent. …. But of course, that was only from the few people who didn’t think my looks were all I was good for…”

“Do you sing a lot?”

“When I was a kid, yeah. But not anymore. Now, singing is …. How I get out emotions sometimes. It’s how I deal with things.” Adam turned back towards the vanity table, looking at himself in the mirror with something unreadable in his eyes. Kris could tell though, he definitely wasn’t admiring himself.

“I get it,” Kris said softly. “It’s really important to you.”

“Kris, do you mind if I don’t …..”

“If you don’t want to share it, I understand. It’s okay, Adam. I’m sorry I asked.” To be honest, Kris was a little disappointed that Adam didn’t completely trust him, but he didn’t let any of it show through.

Adam stared at himself in the mirror, instead of turning to meet Kris’ gaze. “It’s just that …. my voice is the only thing that’s my own anymore. I don’t even let Michael hear. He only knows from times he’s been closer to the tent than I thought he was.”

Kris nodded, even though Adam wasn’t looking at him. Adam fell silent from where he was seated, and Kris pulled his own knees up to hug to his chest. Whenever Adam talked or dwelled on things like this that were obviously important to him, things he held close through all the hardship, he retreated into himself and it was like he was in a whole different world from Kris.

After a few minutes passed and there was no sign of the silence ending, Kris sat up and stood from the bed. He wanted to get through to Adam, to let him know that he wasn’t alone, and he didn’t have to shut himself off like this. Kris took a few steps closer to him. Adam was still looking into the mirror, his blue eyes looking like they were transfixed by their own reflection. Kris reached out slowly to rest a hand on Adam’s shoulder.

“Adam?”

After a few seconds, Adam’s eyes left the mirror and he made a ‘hm?’ noise. Kris moved to sit down next to Adam on the chair, and Adam scooted over a little bit to make room for him.

Kris was quiet for a few moments, thinking of what to say. He finally asked Adam, “Why do you wear so much makeup?”

Adam looked a little caught off guard at the question. “Well, my skin is far from perfect. And I like putting the colors and the kohl around my eyes. But mainly, I guess the makeup makes me look more done-up, like customers are getting something fancier and more refined when they pay.”

Kris looked at all of the small pots and brushes that were lined up across the vanity table. His eyes skimmed over all of the different colors, the shimmery, glittering powders. He had watched Adam put on his makeup many times. He would paint his face up like an oil canvas.

“You don’t need any of it, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you’re the masterpiece. Makeup isn’t good for anything if there isn’t something beautiful underneath.”

Adam’s eyes immediately dropped down to his lap, and his hands clasped together like he was trying to hold something inside himself together. “ …..Kris…” Countless people had told him before of course that he was beautiful, but no one had ever said it like Kris did, like the beauty he was referring to was more than skin-deep.

“You do that a lot,” Kris observed, nodding towards the way Adam tangled his fingers together in his lap whenever there was a moment when he didn’t know what to say or quite how to react to whatever had happened. Kris set his own hand on Adam’s leg, palm up and fingers spread. “Would it help if you had someone else’s hand to hold onto?”

Adam blinked, and stared down at Kris’ open hand on his leg like he needed time to figure out exactly what it was.

“I…..I don’t know. I’ve never had someone else’s hand to try it with before…” Adam’s voice got all soft like it did sometimes with Kris, losing its usual power and confidence.

“Then let’s try it with mine,” Kris suggested, smiling a little bit at Adam. Adam looked at Kris’ face for a moment, just as beautiful, open, and sweet as it had been the first day Adam saw him, before his gaze dropped down to Kris’ hand. Adam smiled just the slightest bit, and slowly slid his fingers in between Kris’. Kris gave the other man’s hand a light squeeze. Kris’ smile grew, and so did Adam’s in turn as he watched him.

Michael’s voice interrupted them suddenly, announcing the arrival of a customer. Adam didn’t wait to hear who it was.

“Tell him to leave,” Adam shouted to Michael from where he was sitting with Kris. “I don’t feel like putting on makeup today.”

Kris grinned at that, and laughed softly. He gave Adam’s shoulder a playful nudge with his own, and Adam smiled wide, his fingers warm where they were entwined with Kris’.

 

It was almost nightfall when Michael escorted another man inside. He was tall, even taller than Adam, with dark brown hair and a handsome, clean-shaven face with gorgeous green eyes. He was young and slender, with muscled, toned arms. Adam was impressed when he walked out and saw him. It was so rare these days that he was visited by young, attractive men instead of the old, rotten ones. Michael had already slipped back outside, and Adam was thankful when he glanced around the room and saw that Kris had already taken the cue to join Michael. Adam wasn’t going to let this catch get away.

 

It had become a usual part of Kris’ day to sit with Michael outside while Adam attended to a customer. Kris didn’t mind in the least. He always had something to read, thanks to the piles of books Adam had bought for him. When Kris sat in the sand outside the tent, he had a perfect view of the whole sky, and he loved watching sunrises and sunsets. It was early evening now, and Kris had pulled on a new, long-sleeved tunic Adam had bought him for the cold nights after that that one stormy night when Kris had been so frozen in his own bed that he’d joined Adam in his.

Michael was sitting a ways away in the sand. He had the blade drawn that Kris had only seen a few times. Michael was examining the sword carefully, and using a rock to sharpen it. Kris watched the sun begin to sink behind the horizon, the remaining sunlight melting and spreading across the sky in tones of orange and honey. A while passed before he heard Michael traipse across the sand and sit down nearer to Kris. His sword was sheathed and hidden again under his robes, and he was leaning back in the sand to watch the sunset along with Kris.

The sun had almost completely disappeared when Kris spoke softly from where he was sitting, turned away from Michael, “Adam didn’t want me to hear him sing.”

Michael didn’t turn either to face the other man, he was looking off into the sky. A few minutes of silence passed before he responded, “He doesn’t let anyone hear. Give it time, he’ll come around.”

Kris sunk his fingers idly into the sand, drawing patterns and digging little holes. He watched the tiny grains of sand trickle through his fingers, and focused on them so he wouldn’t think of Adam too much.

“Kris … I think you’re what Adam’s been waiting for, almost his whole life long. I’ve been praying for a long time that he would find you.”

Kris sat still as he took in what Michael said, and then finally turned slowly to face the larger man.

“What do you mean?”

Michael didn’t answer. He didn’t say anything more.

Each of the words had already inscribed themselves into Kris’ brain. They made Kris’ whole body feel strangely warm and light, even though he didn’t understand quite what Michael meant. But he knew it was something good, something like what he had been trying to do for Adam since he’d met him and noticed the emptiness behind Adam’s gorgeous, dazzling blue eyes, visible only when Kris looked hard enough.

 

Once the sun went down, a chill accompanied night as it rolled in quickly over the desert. Kris headed back towards the tent when he started shivering. He tugged the long sleeves of his tunic down over his wrists and hugged his arms around himself for warmth. Michael remained outside, seemingly unaffected by the cold as he hunkered down in his robes. It was warm inside the tent thanks to the heating lamps Adam had lit earlier. Several were scattered throughout the tent to warm the air, and Kris hurried over to the one on the table to warm his hands over the contained, heat-giving flame. Adam and his partner for the evening were making noise, and lots of it. Kris ignored what he was hearing as best he could, but glanced over his shoulder once towards the partitioned corner of the room. Kris couldn’t help but notice immediately that the curtains hadn’t been closed all the way. There was only a small sliver of an opening, but from where Kris was standing, he could see inside perfectly. The tall, gorgeous man that had come in was standing naked, his previously bright green eyes now completely darkened and taken over with lust as he watched Adam on his knees in front of him. Adam was naked, too. One of his hands gripped the man’s hip tightly, while his other was curled around his waist to rest on the small of his back. Adam’s lips were pink and wet where they were wrapped around the base of the man’s cock. Adam slid back to do some deft motion with his tongue before stretching his mouth all the way down the man’s cock again, sucking once his lips reached the base. The man moaned loudly, and twisted his fingers into Adam’s dark locks of hair. Kris was just turning away from the scene when Adam let out a moan around the man’s member.

Kris retreated quickly to Adam’s chamber – the room that by now had really become both Adam and Kris’ room. Kris scrambled for a book, and was quick to start reading and carry himself away into a far-away fictional land. Kris wasn’t surprised or shocked by any means, he understood that that was what Adam did. But Kris wasn’t really able to deal with hearing the second part of Adam’s entertainment when Kris had seen the first. He wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad thing that Adam hadn’t noticed the curtains were parted and Kris was standing right there. Obviously they would have both been humiliated if Adam had seen, but this way, Kris’ brain held a perfect image of it and Adam had no idea that Kris had been anywhere near breeching the careful wall of modesty Adam had tried to establish between Kris and Adam’s time with customers. Kris wondered if Adam would be ashamed if he knew Kris had seen, since knowing and seeing it with one’s own eyes were certainly two different things. Kris didn’t want to risk making Adam feel badly, so he wouldn’t ever let Adam know.

 

Later in the night, long after the man had departed, the night grew chillingly colder. Adam and Kris had to gather all of the lamps together in the main area and sit huddled close to them with blankets wrapped around themselves in order to stay warm. Michael had two lamps of his own out in his guard post right inside the door, and he insisted he had a thicker skin and left all the rest of the lamps inside to the boys.

Kris and Adam were sitting with their sides huddled close together, and they had now resorted to sharing two blankets instead of both being wrapped up in their own single one. It made a big difference, actually. Kris had one of his books spread over both their laps, and was reading out loud from it. Adam kept his eyes squinted and focused carefully on the text, following Kris’ progress with his finger. He would stop Kris every once in a while to ask him to show him how to sound out one of the longer words. Kris would oblige every time with a smile. Kris loved reading, he always had. And sharing it with Adam was even better.

After a while, they laid the book aside and just sat there silently, together. They watched the dancing flames in the lamps, throwing shadows and warmth all throughout the room. They both had on long pants and long-sleeved tunics, and were both huddled together under two blankets. They were plenty warm in the middle of the numbingly-cold night. Comfortable, relaxing quiet spread through the room for a while. But as Kris sat there, with his side pressed against Adam’s, the image started appearing in front of his eyes of what he’d seen earlier in the evening. Kris tried his best to push it away, because it was the worst thing to have in his mind when he was sitting there sharing Adam’s personal space.

After a bit, the picture faded. But Kris was still left with thoughts, questions, and unsettlement about the whole thing. Kris knew that Adam wasn’t happy, and while he still wanted to keep what he’d seen a secret, he wanted to address it somehow. Kris thought of how Adam would deflate and resign himself to it whenever a customer’s arrival caught him off guard. He thought of Adam’s sad, empty eyes when his favorite, brand new tunic had been ripped. And finally, Kris thought of what Michael had said to him. If Adam had been waiting like Michael said, for someone like Kris to come around, then Kris knew he had to reach out to the man and challenge him somehow.

Kris’ gaze was lost in the lamps’ flames when he asked, “Adam, …… why do you continue to do what you do?” His voice was barely above a whisper, but Adam heard him clearly.

Adam sucked in a sharp breath at Kris’ question. His eyes fell and his head bowed. Kris searched under the blankets with his hand for a moment until he found Adam’s, and curled his fingers through the other man’s.

Kris looked up at Adam’s face and told him gently, “So you don’t do that nervous twisty thing with your hands.”

Adam only smiled the slightest bit, but it was obvious he had retreated a little bit to think of what to say.

Adam finally looked away from Kris. When his voice finally came, it was soft and vulnerable.

“It’s ….. it’s all I know anymore.”

Kris didn’t say anything in response, he just stared into the flames. He knew he’d just breeched a sensitive bridge that he had never come anywhere close to before. Adam was still sitting close against his side with their hands locked, but Kris could tell Adam had mentally pulled away. To coax him back, Kris reached his other hand over to hold Adam’s hand as well, and he leaned his head in to rest on Adam’s shoulder. After a few long moments, Kris felt Adam’s body relax, and his hand grip Kris’ in return.

“I’m sorry,” Kris murmured.

“Don’t be. I’m the one who’s sorry.”

“You don’t have to be. It’s your life.”

“A life I hate. A life I’m too weak to do anything about.”

“You could change that. I know you could.”

“No …. there’s no changing it now. You can’t change what’s a part of you.”

 

It was just after midday when a burly, large man arrived and was let into the tent by Michael. Adam looked the definition of disinterested from where he was lounging in the pile of cushions, smoking. Kris only gave him a quick glance from where he was kneading bread dough at the table. He wasn’t exactly unattractive, just intimidating. Adam was watching him from hooded eyes, sizing up the guy as he slid his pipe between his lips again to take a drag. Adam’s disinterest quickly changed when the man reached into a back pocket of his coat and produced two long strands of shining, flawless pearls. Adam’s eyes were glued to them, he was instantly enraptured. The man smirked and fixed Adam with a hungry, leering look once he saw that he had Adam won over. He was exactly the kind of man Adam usually graced only a few seconds of his attention with before turning away. But no one before had ever dangled priceless pearls in front of him in offering. Kris watched Adam stand and reach a hand out for the pearls. The man pulled them back out of Adam’s reach at the last moment, smirking as he threaded the strands between his own fingers. “After we’re done. So I know you’ll do a good job.” Adam stood up at the challenge. He tossed his pipe onto the floor, cocked his hip, and cranked up the dazzle of his eyes. “You don’t have to concern yourself with that, darling,” Adam purred, giving an utterly suggestive sway of his hips and unleashing a smile full of promise. Kris quickly loaded up his bread dough in a container and went back to Adam’s chamber. He’d take the bread dough outside in a little bit to bake.

Kris seated himself on the floor, cradling the large bowl of dough in his lap and twisting and kneading it carefully with his hands. He had made the dough himself from scratch and had had to substitute a few ingredients, so the dough was a bit thicker than usual and required more kneading. Kris sat there for a while, working the dough until it was smooth and even. Kris was just standing up with the container of finished dough in his hands when he heard a cry come from the opposite side of the tent. It wasn’t like one of the usual sounds of pleasure Adam drew from men, it was distinctively an exclamation of pain. And it was from Adam. Kris heard a second, similar sound. Then there was the sudden, harsh clanging of the emergency bell in Adam’s work area. The loud sound of the bell signaled that Adam needed Michael’s aid. Kris stumbled out from the back chamber just in time to see Michael shoving his way inside the tent and sprinting over to pull the curtains of Adam’s private area aside. Kris couldn’t see inside, but the rage that appeared instantly on Michael’s face was telling enough. Michael stomped inside.

 

When Michael pushed his way through the curtains, he was met with the sight of the man he’d let in earlier with the pearls getting up from the bed of cushions. The bastard didn’t even glance back to Adam. Adam was sprawled on his front, motionless except for the slight trembling of his hands where they gripped the cushion his face was hidden in. Adam was bare, his legs still apart, and Michael could see bright red blood staining the insides of his thighs. The big, ugly oaf had just tugged his breeches back on before Michael slugged him hard across the left side of his face. He tumbled to the ground with a surprised gasp of pain. Michael stood over him and ground out, “If you don’t produce those pearls in the next five seconds, I’ll be stripping them from your corpse in the next thirty.” Michael kicked him in the side for emphasis. He gasped and held up the pearls in trembling fingers. Michael snatched them immediately and dropped them into one of the pockets of his robes. Then he wrenched the man to his feet by his arm and dragged him all the way outside. He bruised almost every inch of the guy’s face before drawing his sword and finally sending the man running.

Then, Michael turned back towards the tent and went back inside. He marched back over to the partitioned area, with just as much determination, but kind, concerned eyes instead of enraged ones. He parted the curtains again. Adam hadn’t moved, but blood was starting to pool in the cushions.

“Adam…” He knelt down next to Adam and touched his shoulder. He slid one arm under his chest and gently rolled him over. Adam’s eyes were flooded with tears, and his face was broken. Looking at his face, it felt like someone had taken a knife to Michael’s stomach. “Come on, … let’s get you cleaned up.”

“No,” Adam gasped out, pressing a hand to Michael’s shoulder to stop him. Adam whispered, barely keeping his voice stable, “I don’t want Kris to see me like this…”

“Adam, someone has to take care of you. And you know Kris is the one you need.” Adam didn’t say anything as his friend slid one arm behind his back and the other beneath his knees. Michael carefully lifted Adam up from the cushions. Adam’s arms came around Michael’s neck, and his face rested in Michael’s shoulder as he started to softly sob.

 

When Kris saw Michael emerge from behind the curtains, he felt as if the air was being wrung from his lungs like water from a dishtowel. He had stood there frozen in the doorway to Adam’s chamber and watched Michael drag the man outside and then come back inside. Kris’ heart was racing at breakneck speed in his chest at he pushed back all the horrible visions playing through his head of what had happened to Adam. None of them were as bad as what he saw when Michael reemerged the second time, cradling Adam’s limp, broken body in his arms. Adam wasn’t small by any means, but Michael was large and strong enough to make Adam seem small and helpless. He was stark naked, and his strength less body was trembling slightly. All Kris saw were stretches of creamy, white freckled skin before he focused on Adam’s face. Kris had never thought there would be a time where he would see Adam cry. He had hoped there never would be. But Adam’s arms were linked up around Michael’s neck, his head was bowed against Michael’s shoulder, and tears were falling down his cheeks. He was sobbing, and the sound of each one wrenched from deep inside Adam felt like a physical attack to Kris’ body. It wasn’t until then that Kris noticed the drops of blood on the carpet. Kris watched one fall from between Adam’s legs, and fought back the sickness and rage boiling up in his throat.

Kris stepped aside from the doorway as Michael carried Adam into his chamber with a somber expression. Kris quickly hurried over to straighten the blankets of his own bed on the rug. “Put him here…” Kris trailed off, not finishing the second half of the sentence – so Adam’s own bed wouldn’t get stained and ruined. Michael set Adam down in the blankets as gently as possible, before murmuring to Kris, “I’m going to bring the wash basin inside.”

Then Kris was left alone with Adam, and he didn’t know what to do. Kris tried his best to look away, because watching Adam lie there naked, injured, and still crying, made Kris sick with sadness for him, and Kris didn’t have anything to do for him other than hold in his own tears.

Thankfully, Michael returned shortly. He was carrying the large wash basin that was usually kept outside behind the tent, where they would occasionally wash their whole bodies. Michael set the basin down on the floor, and then fetched the container full of water from the front of the tent, and filled the basin. Then, Michael stepped back over to Adam and kneeled down to carefully pick him up again. Adam seemed to have a bit more strength now, immediately holding onto Michael’s shoulders as Michael lifted him. But as Michael set him down in the tub, Adam was still trembling a little bit, and there was still wetness in his beautiful eyes. As Michael straightened up again, he fixed Kris with a hard look across the room. Kris met Michael’s gaze, and tried to decode what Michael was trying to tell him.

Adam had his shoulders slumped and head bowed, sitting there motionless, and didn’t notice any of the silent things going on around him.

To get his message across, Michael picked up a wash cloth from Adam’s vanity table, and tossed it to Kris. Kris caught it, and then he understood. Michael left the room, and Kris was left holding the wash cloth in his hands. He didn’t think Michael’s severity was necessary. Kris would have done whatever possible without prompting, to help Adam and take care of him. Kris looked down to Adam sitting slumped in the wash basin, and Kris’ throat felt tight. He had still been crying when Michael had carried him to the tub, but now his sobs had quieted. But there were still salty tracks from tears on his cheeks. Adam’s usually perfect hair was disheveled where it hung over his shoulders, and his hands were clasped together under the water. It seemed like the Adam Kris knew was just gone from the man in front of him, completely and totally withdrawn. It was like he was just an empty shell, and it pained Kris to watch him.

Kris kneeled down with a serious face. He reached out with one hesitating hand.

“Adam…” Kris whispered gently, extending his hand to stroke his fingers through Adam’s long hair. “Please look at me, …… say something. Please, it’s killing me to see you like this.” Kris stroked Adam’s hair back from his face and watched him with concerned eyes, but for a while, Adam didn’t react at all. Then finally, Adam straightened his head up the slightest bit, slowly tipping his head back so he could look in Kris’ direction. He murmured Kris’ name, but didn’t look into his eyes. “Oh Adam,… it’s alright. It’s going to be okay.” Kris threaded his fingers through Adam’s hair a few more times, trying to be as soothing as he could.

“Is it …. is it okay if I help wash you?” Kris asked softly, holding up the wash cloth. Adam just nodded slightly, still gazing downwards into the water instead of up at Kris. Kris dipped the wash cloth into the water. He felt sweat on Adam’s forehead and in his hair, so first Kris gently cleaned Adam’s face, dabbing at his cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. Adam hadn’t been wearing any makeup, so all that washed off was sweat. While Kris did so, Adam’s eyes remained downcast and unfocused.

Kris moved on to Adam’s neck and shoulders. For the first time, Kris really saw Adam’s bare skin up close. His skin was smooth and supple to the touch, and was peppered all over with soft freckles. He was unfathomably beautiful, but Kris knew now was not the time to tell Adam that he thought so. In his present state, Adam would take the comment the wrong way. Kris gently wiped away sweat and dirt, and lifted Adam’s arms one at a time to clean his underarms. Then, Kris knew he had to do what Michael had brought the wash basin inside for. Kris skirted his eyes hesitatingly along Adam’s thighs, looking at how much blood was stuck to his skin. Kris was careful not to look anywhere else.

Kris looked up at Adam’s face, wondering if he should ask Adam for permission, or if he wanted to do it himself. But Adam was staring off into nothing, seeming like he was miles away from Kris instead of there right next to him. Kris would attend to him himself. Kris started down near Adam’s knees, patting gently at his skin with the cloth until the blood came off. Then, keeping his eyes glued closely to only the area where he was working, started gently and carefully patting the cloth farther up Adam’s thighs. A few times he had to scrub a little bit to get the blood off. When he reached the crease of Adam’s inner thighs, Kris touched the skin gingerly, rubbing as gently as he could and doing his best to not touch anywhere that wasn’t strictly necessary.

It was then that Adam finally spoke up. His voice was softer than usual, but it was filled with a dark bitterness.

“I’m just a whore. It doesn’t matter where you touch, it’s all already been ruined.”

Kris looked up to Adam’s face, and saw that his eyes no longer looked distant. Kris was about to disagree, about to tell Adam how purely beautiful he was, but suddenly the shell that had seemed for form between Adam and the world around him cracked and fell from him.

In the blink of an eye, Adam was crying again, and harder than he had been when Michael had carried him back to his chamber. He was shaking with sobs that wracked his whole body, and he lifted his hands from the water to hang his head in them. Kris watched with a pained expression, at a loss for what to do or say.

Adam lifted his face from his hands, and then for the first time since Michael had carried him back, he met Kris’ eyes fully. Kris swallowed hard, his throat feeling like it was closing up when he saw the raw, horrible pain clear in Adam’s eyes that was surfacing from deep down inside of him.

“Kris…” Adam’s voice had never sounded weaker, and it hurt Kris so much to hear it, because it was so unlike the strong, collected man he had come to know in Adam. “Kris, …am I .. dirty in your eyes?” His voice was utterly and completely broken. It disturbed Kris so deeply, he immediately moved upwards at the side of the tub, so he was closer to Adam.

“No, no, Adam.” Adam’s eyes looked so hurt, Kris was heartbroken just watching him. Adam was looking straight ahead, tears stuck to his cheeks and his breathing quickened and raspy from crying.

“Adam, please…..”

Kris watched Adam swallow hard, and another tear trickle down his face. He wouldn’t look at Kris again. After he’d asked Kris what was on his mind, he had set himself alone again, like he was afraid of the answer.

Kris was determined to do something.

He reached out a hand and touched it to Adam’s cheek, turning his head to face Kris. It took Adam’s eyes a few seconds to drift to Kris and focus on him. When he was finally looking at Kris, his face crumpled again, and Kris’ fingers on Adam’s cheek became wet with fresh tears.

“You’re not like that at all,” Kris spoke gently, flattening his hand to Adam’s skin to gently cup the side of his face. “Listen to me, please. You are beautiful, kind and generous, and wonderful. Adam, you’re the best person I’ve ever known. In my eyes, you are amazing.” Adam’s eyes shimmered as he listened to Kris’ words – half from tears and half from emotion. “I’ve loved every day I’ve spent here since you let me stay. It’s thanks to you that now I can think of myself as free. I wish it were easier for me to tell you how incredible you are. How much I care about you, how much I wish I could make you see yourself how I see you.”

Tears were rolling steadily down Adam’s cheeks now. Adam’s eyes were glued to Kris now, watching him with something akin to wonder as he took in what Kris had said to him. Adam raised one hand shakily from the water, up towards Kris’ hand cupping his own cheek tenderly. Adam had his fingers extended shakily like he was going to fold his fingers through Kris’ against his cheek. Kris watched his movement, and he got a better idea.

He recognized the way Adam always pulled into himself and isolated himself when difficult things happened. Kris knew that habit couldn’t be helping Adam’s mental state. All Kris really wanted to do was get through that barrier Adam withdrew behind. He wanted Adam to know that he wasn’t alone anymore. Kris needed to let him know that he was cared for, for reasons more deeply than the physical.

That was what made Kris turn Adam’s head the slightest bit more to face him. That was what made Kris act without thinking, instead solely on what he was feeling in his heart. Adam was watching him with those wet, broken eyes, still trembling slightly from crying. Adam had healed Kris’ injuries long ago. Kris needed to do the same for him.

His thumb grazed lightly across Adam’s cheek as Kris leaned over the side of the basin a little bit. As he saw Adam’s face more closely, Kris saw more and more of exactly how beautiful he was, and how deep his pain ran underneath it. Then Kris looked to Adam’s lips, closed his eyes, and just kissed him.

Adam’s lips felt wet and soft, and Kris’ mouth fit to his gently and lovingly. Kris’ lips remained closed, his touch soft and sweet. His hand cupped Adam’s cheek, and Kris kissed him softly and chastely. Adam relaxed beneath it, his eyes slipping closed as a warm feeling of safety and cherishment melted through him. He had never felt anything like Kris’ kiss and the accompanying feelings, but it was an idea he had thought of, dreamed about too many times to count.

Kris’ lips then parted from his, as gently as a wave slipping back from the shore. Kris’ fingers were stroking Adam’s cheek lovingly as Adam opened his eyes again, stunned. His eyes jumped up to meet Kris’, and they were filled with warmth just like the kiss had been.

Adam had spent years imagining a kiss like that.

The residual bubbling warmth Kris had left in his chest was something Adam could physically feel. Kris’ fingertips were still brushing lightly over his cheek, and Adam found his eyes growing teary again.

Kris watched concernedly as tears appeared in Adam’s eyes again. Kris sat up on his knees next to the tub, and reached out to gently pull Adam close in his arms. He slid one hand lightly into Adam’s hair, bringing Adam’s head to rest against his own chest. Adam, at first, was stiff and shocked. Then he was crying again, his body shaking with sobs. One of his hands reached up around Kris, and his wet fingers fisted in the material of Kris’ tunic. Adam began to quietly sob, his eyes closed and face pressed into Kris’ chest as he melted into the cradle of Kris’ arms and against his body, giving himself in.

Kris sat there holding him, and hating the injustice of the world. Adam was beautiful and wonderful. His stunning beauty was what made people seek him out. It was what made them return time after time. It was what made them gift to him gold and jewels in exchange for his temporary affection. Everyone adored him for his looks and attitude, everyone appreciated him in the form of payment. But what was really unfair, what Kris hated, was that it was the fault of all those same people that Adam was the only one who could not look in the mirror and find something beautiful. Kris hated it, and wished Adam’s past experiences weren’t so big that he couldn’t do more to counter them.

Adam was still naked, but the thought of looking at him was the farthest thing from Kris’ mind. Kris closed his eyes and rested his chin against the top of Adam’s head. Adam was still trembling, and Kris tightened his arms gently around Adam’s shoulders, and stroked a few fingers through his hair again. It was as simple as the fact that Kris didn’t think of Adam in a physical, lust-driven way like that. He understood how Adam perceived physical feelings, the way he had become numbed and naturally adverse to them, and didn’t want Adam to associate him with anything that had hurt him in the past. Kris cared about Adam himself, as a person. He cared about teaching him those hard words in their books, and he cared about Adam’s smile that Kris saw far too seldomly.

They sat there together for a while, holding onto each other. Adam let himself go, crying out everything as, in that moment, he felt truly and deeply cared for. He couldn’t remember feeling this way since he was very, very young. Adam shook and gasped as all of his tears fought their way out of him, and Kris hushed him soothingly. Adam soon started to calm down. Kris could feel Adam’s body relaxing and the tension and stress slowly leaving him.

There was a rustling sound as the cloth doorway parted, and Adam and Kris slid apart as Michael entered the room. Michael looked happy at how he had found them, but did his best to hide it.

“Adam, I forgot I had these.” He slid the strings of pearls from his pocket. Adam snorted and turned away from him. He splashed some water on his face to wash off the salt clinging to his skin.

“Keep them. Or toss them out in the sand.” Adam dipped his hands into the water and then started scrubbing his wet hands through his hair.

“I’ll just put them away for you.” Michael held the pearls in his hand and walked over to the dresser in the corner of Adam’s chamber. Adam wasn’t paying a bit of attention, but Kris watched as Michael opened the door to the cupboard. He kneeled down, and Kris saw a huge black chest stored in the very back. Michael opened it, and Kris’ eyes practically bugged out when he saw the heaps and piles of shining jewels and gold all piled up inside. Michael placed the pearls inside and closed the trunk. Adam was combing his fingers through his wet hair, purposely oblivious.

“Are you going to be alright? Should I summon a doctor?” Michael asked, looking over to Adam.

“That’s not necessary. Trust me, I’m fine.” Adam gave Kris a sideways glance, and Kris smiled at him a little bit.

Michael immediately started, “Adam, don’t brush things off like you always - ..” Then he noticed the look Adam and Kris were sharing, and he immediately bit his tongue. “If you say you’re fine, then I believe you. Call if you need anything.” Michael turned and left the room.

Kris walked over to retrieve a clean towel from the cupboard, and he draped it over the side of the tub for Adam to use when he was finished washing. Kris looked away from Adam in the basin, and said, “I’m going to go fix some hot tea for you.” Adam was still quiet and seemed to be trying to deal with internal things, so Kris wanted to leave him be for a little while.

Kris ducked out of the room, asked Michael to get some fresh water from the well, and heated it up with a heating lamp after Michael brought in a bucket of water for him. Michael went back outside while Kris found some tea leaves in the cupboard, and dropped a few into the water. Kris stirred the water a bit before pouring it into a mug. Kris picked up the steaming mug and had just taken the few steps back towards Adam’s chamber when he heard it.

The sound was soft and Kris was only just able to hear it, but he knew immediately what it was, and he froze in place.

Turn down the lights,  
Turn down the bed  
Turn down these voices inside my head

Lay down with me,  
Tell me no lies  
Just hold me close  
Don’t patronize, don’t patronize me

Adam’s voice had to be the single most beautiful thing Kris had ever heard. Michael hadn’t been exaggerating in his description – ‘He’s got the voice of an angel. Better.”

Cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t  
You can’t make your heart feel, something it won’t  
Here in the dark,  
In these final hours  
I will lay down my heart,  
And I’ll feel the power  
But you won’t, no you won’t  
Cause I can’t make you love me  
If you don’t

Kris’ hand began to shake and liquid in the mug spilled over a little bit. There was so much pain in Adam’s voice, it was tangible. Kris could hear it soaking through Adam’s voice, and it settled over Kris like a stifling weight. In his mind, he could see Adam sitting there alone as he sang, the hurt that must be plain on his face as he broke himself open and let out all the ugly things he felt. Kris remembered Adam telling him that singing was sacred to him, it was how he let out the painful things he usually kept repressed. Kris swallowed hard, clutching the mug tightly in his hands as he stood there frozen, listening.

I’ll close my eyes, then I won’t see  
The love you don’t feel  
When you’re holding me

Morning will come,  
And I’ll do what’s right  
Just give me ‘till then, to give up this fight  
And I will give up this fight

Adam’s voice soared up high and loud, and as it did, it cracked once like a sob or tear had escaped along with the emotions Adam was letting run out.

Cause I can’t make you love me, if you don’t  
You can’t make your heart feel, something it won’t

Kris didn’t realize he had started crying until a tear landed on his arm. He could hear and experience all of the suffering Adam had endured from the world. Adam was singing to every person who had ever used him without caring about him, to Brad, to all of them; and to Kris.

Here in the dark  
In these final hours  
I will lay down my heart,  
And I’ll feel the power  
But you won’t, no you won’t  
Cause I can’t make you love me  
If you don’t.

Silence filled the tent once Adam’s final held note faded away. Only the soft hum of the wind batting against the walls covered up the sound of Kris softly crying in the aftermath. He realized that obviously Adam had meant for him to hear, he’d sung loud, raw, and unabashedly. But Kris didn’t want Adam to see or hear him crying, not when Adam’s pain was so big. Kris stood there frozen for a while, until he got a hold of himself and he could wipe the salty tears away without them reappearing. He topped off the mug he was holding with fresh tea to make it hot again, and schooled his expression as much as he could before he stepped through the doorway to Adam’s room. That became difficult though, when he saw Adam.

He had stepped out from the wash basin, and wrapped the towel around his waist. It clung low, and Kris could see his wide, soft hips from the back, and all of the smooth, bare skin of his back and shoulders. He was facing the mirror, his back to Kris as he rubbed a towel through his wet hair. When Kris’ eyes fell on Adam, he saw him in a much different way than any of his customers did. He took in Adam’s beauty with reverence. Kris knew Adam’s charming, sure character well, and Adam was just as handsome outside as he was inside. Kris still felt the warm spot in his chest from the open, vulnerable side of Adam he had just exposed with his singing.

Kris spoke up from the other side of the room, “Here, I made you tea.” Adam turned around to face Kris with a small smile as Kris brought the mug over to him. Kris handed the tea to him, and Adam smiled gratefully.

“Thank you. You’re the best.” Adam sipped at the tea before setting the mug down on the vanity table. Kris could tell he was already bouncing back, almost back to his usual self.

Adam walked over to the dresser and produced some loose-fitting clothes that he pulled on under the towel before tossing the towel onto the table. Adam pulled on a shirt, and Kris found himself thinking about how he’d kissed Adam earlier. Kris’ cheeks were the slightest bit red as he went over to sit down on Adam’s bed. The room remained silent as Adam began to brush his damp hair out.

Kris felt the need to say something. His hands were folded in his lap and he twiddled his thumbs together.

“So, you know I…..I’ve never…kissed anyone before..” Kris’ face was turning redder and Adam couldn’t believe how adorable he looked. “Was it good…or really bad?”

Adam smiled and pushed his hair back from his face with his fingers.

“It was the best kiss anyone’s ever given me.”

Kris looked up, surprised, but he knew that when Adam smiled like that, he couldn’t lie. Kris looked back down to his hands folded in his lap, a little smile on his own face. He thought of Adam’s singing again, and wondered whether he should tell Adam how stunning his voice was. Kris didn’t. He thought, of course Adam already knew how priceless his voice was, and he probably didn’t want to talk out loud about the things he’d revealed to Kris. There was still so much about Adam that Kris was in the dark about, but it didn’t matter. Kris knew enough to be sure that Adam was a good, pure person, and Kris was devoted to doing everything in his power to heal all the nameless heartaches and hurt Adam carried. He would see to it that Adam would never have to use his gorgeous voice to sing of pain and loneliness ever again.

 

Kris was reading aloud from a book about fairies and knights. He was sitting on Adam’s bed, with his legs crossed indian-style, and Adam’s head resting in his lap. Adam was lounging comfortably, listening with rapt attention while Kris told the story.

Only a few days past, Adam would have hurried away from any physical contact with Kris, afraid of the other man’s reaction and possible aversion. But since Kris had kissed him entirely of his own sentiment the day before, Adam didn’t shy away anymore. Kris was so open and accepting towards him all the time. With his head leaning back against Kris’ legs, Adam could feel a flashback to the same warmth and comfort Kris had given him with the kiss. It was breathtaking, and Adam appreciated every little bit of the feeling.

Michael had been chasing off customers like a guard dog. Whether regulars or hopefuls, Michael would send them away without even the hope of a glance at Adam. Neither Michael nor Kris wanted anyone near Adam until he fully recovered. He had bounced back to his usual self quickly, and said he felt plenty well enough to work, but Kris and Michael would hear nothing of it. Adam didn’t mind the time off, so he let them play protectors. (well, he let Kris play, but Michael really was his guard.)

Kris had been reading for a while now, and his fingers had found their own way to Adam’s soft hair, twirling gently in the long strands while he read from the book. Adam’s eyes had closed, but in relaxation rather than lethargy.

Kris had just reached the end of the sixth chapter when he closed the book.

“I really like this one,” Adam commented, “but if Isabelle’s knight doesn’t find her by the end, my verdict’s going to change.”

Kris laughed a little and nodded in agreement. Adam sat up from Kris’ lap and stretched. Kris watched him, looking the slightest bit concerned.

“How are you feeling?” Adam gave Kris a long-suffering look at the other man’s question.

“You and Michael can both relax. I’m fine, really. You don’t need to keep asking me that every hour.”

“I’m sorry, I - ….”

“Oh, don’t be. I appreciate your concern. Really.” Adam smiled slightly, and looked down to his own lap, folding his hands and picking absentmindedly at the paint on his fingernails. Kris was watching Adam just out of the side of his eye, trying to see if he was still feeling upset under his secure outer shell.

Adam could feel Kris’ concern, and it touched him. He could sense that Kris genuinely wanted to be there for him, to help him. It reminded Adam of days back when he was very young, before the trauma began, when he used to have people in his life who truly cared about him; whose kind, warm smiles were all he needed to feel happy, and who did their best to protect him. With Kris was the first time and place Adam had ever really felt like that again since. It warmed something deep down in his heart, and Adam felt like he could open up. He felt like it would be okay. He could drop his guard for a few moments, and nothing bad would happen when he was with Kris.

“Hey Kris?” Adam asked softly, looking over at Kris carefully.

“Yes?” Kris was reclining on the bed, leafing through the rest of the book and skimming the pages.

Adam knotted his fingers together and wrung them. It was plain to see, there was something on his mind. “Do you think I … could have your hand to hold again?”

Kris looked up from the book. He smiled as he watched Adam, remembering how he’d held Adam’s hand before to stop his nervous hand-wringing habit.

“You don’t have to ask like it’s a big thing you need permission for.” Kris extended his hand over to Adam’s lap where he had his hands linked, and Kris slid his hand into one of Adam’s, twining their fingers together. Adam chewed lightly on his bottom lip as he curled his other hand around Kris’ as well, holding it tight.

Kris tried not to get his hopes up too high that Adam was going to open up to him, and tell Kris what he was feeling for once instead of hiding everything inside.

Kris scooted a little bit closer until his leg touched Adam’s. He watched Adam for a few moments, he was gazing down to Kris’ hand in his lap, and rubbing one finger back and forth over Kris’ knuckles. A few moments passed, and still Adam didn’t say anything.

Kris tried to appreciate and savor the soft touches, and the feel of Adam’s body heat close to him. But Kris was still too concerned.

“Adam….I know you keep saying you’re fine .. and I believe you, really, I do … but, sometimes it seems like, while you might feel fine, your heart doesn’t. It’s holding things that don’t fit into the ‘fine’ and ‘not fine’ categories.”

Adam didn’t look up from where his gaze was fixed on Kris’ hand, but half of his mouth turned up in something like a smile.

“I may have bought you a few too many of those sappy books.”

Kris laughed a little, but gave Adam’s hand a squeeze. He wanted Adam to know he had meant it. Kris had come to notice all the little things Adam did and didn’t do, all the things he said and didn’t say. He wanted Adam to know that he noticed.

Adam released one of his hands’ grip on Kris’ hand, and then threaded his fingers through his own dark hair, brushing it back from his face. Kris laid his head on Adam’s shoulder, watching as the other man’s guarded expression slowly lifted little by little. It was a hazy mask that had come to call Adam’s countenance home – impenetrable to most, but almost invisible to those who exerted the effort to dissect it.

Adam focused on Kris’ hand, sliding his fingers in and out from between Kris’ and stroking his knuckles – distracting himself. “It’s not like this is the first time it’s happened. It’s why I have Michael. I can usually handle myself, but every once in a while, I just get … caught off guard.”

“Speaking of Michael, I’ve been wondering about him. Do you pay him?”

“No, he doesn’t want me to. He’s been my only friend every since I was a kid, so I guess he felt obligated to come out here with me when I set up shop. I just make sure he’s fed all the time, and he’s happy. Thank the gods for him, or else I probably would have died of loneliness by now.” Adam smiled, delivering the comment lightly, but just the implication made Kris’ heart twist.

Adam’s eyes fixed back to Kris’ hand, and his expression grew somber again. “It’s… not as bad as it used to be. My body’s gotten tougher. I recover faster, and really, I hardly feel it anymore.” Adam had an expression akin to wonder as he slid his and Kris’ fingers together over and over again, marveling at how they fit together like puzzle pieces. Kris watched too, as Adam folded their hands together. “A lot of times, I’m able to just not think about it. By now, I know so well what to do, my body can just go on automatic and I don’t have to be there mentally.” Kris nodded the slightest bit from where his head was still resting against Adam’s shoulder. He didn’t have anything to say, but he wanted to make it clear that he was listening. Adam turned his head a little bit towards Kris. His nose brushed Kris’ hair.

Adam gave Kris’ warm hand a light squeeze, and relaxed into the welcomed feeling of Kris’ body against his side. Adam couldn’t remember the last time physical contact with someone had been comforting. But it was with Kris, it was perfect with Kris. Kris felt soft and warm, gentle and fragile. Adam had learned by now that he wouldn’t taint Kris’ purity by being close to him. Rather, he felt that some of Kris’ wholesomeness would spread to him, instead. It would relax Adam, make him feel good about himself, and cared for. Kris closed his eyes against Kris’ hair, and silently breathed in his scent.

“Your hair is looking pretty raggedy.” Adam lifted a hand to tousle Kris’ soft, brown hair. “You should let me cut it for you. I have a razor I use on my own hair.” Kris reached up to feel his mop-head of hair, and made a little face. Adam smiled when he saw it.

“Okay, sure. It does really need a cut.”

Adam slid off the cot and stood up. He went over to his vanity table, opened up one of the small chests sitting on the table, and withdrew a shaving razor with a brown, wooden handle.

“Come sit over here.” Adam pointed to the stool in front of the vanity mirror, and Kris came over and plopped down on it. Adam moved behind him, and picked up a comb to brush Kris’ hair out first. Then he trailed his fingers through the strands, parting Kris’ hair in the middle. He held the razor, carefully separated one section of Kris’ hair, and filed the razor against the ends until a good inch of hair dropped off. Adam carefully worked his way through Kris’ hair, cutting off only a little bit at a time, to make sure the end result would look nice.

It took a long time, but Kris sat still in the chair and waited. After a long while of silence, he spoke aloud a thought that had suddenly occurred to him, “You know, Brad hasn’t been around here in a while.” It wasn’t until the words were already out in the open that Kris realized that they may not have been the best thing to say. But he watched Adam’s face anxiously, and saw no change at all.

Adam was just silent for a few seconds as he trimmed another chunk of Kris’ hair, before he confirmed, “No, … he hasn’t.” There was a kind of resignation in his voice. Not a sad or dismal kind, but the kind that saw it as nothing to do anything about, or stress over. “Something must be keeping him tied up.”

Adam surprised himself with the realization of how little it mattered to him. A few moons ago, Brad had been Adam’s only hope for a better life. Adam trailed his fingers through Kris’ hair, and thoughts of Brad dissipated from his mind.

“There we go,” Adam announced with a smile when he was finally finished. Kris ran his hands through his fresh hair cut and examined himself in the mirror.

“It looks really good. Thanks,” Kris smiled up at Adam. “Now let me make you lunch in return.”

“Only if you make something good that I’ll like.”

Kris gave an amused expression. “Have I ever prepared any food you haven’t liked?”

Adam looked like he was deliberating something for a few moments, and made an exaggerated concentrated expression. “No, nothing. Of course, you’re a perfect cook too, on top of everything else you’re wonderful at. Come on, let’s go work on that lunch.”

Adam stuck his head outside the tent and told Michael to come inside once Kris had furnished the table with bread and soup. The three dragged chairs over to the table and sat down to eat. Kris’ soup had vegetables and potatoes in it, and it was flavored just right.

“Adam, I don’t think you should ever bother cooking again. Kris has you beat,” Michael said between giant spoonfuls. Kris laughed, and Adam couldn’t disagree. They were almost finished with the meal when there came the soft rustling sound of the front door being pulled aside. Adam looked up, and an expression almost dreamy appeared on his face when he saw the young man who stepped through.

“Excuse me, I’m looking for Adam Lambert?”

Michael had already jumped to his feet, but Adam was quick to deter him.

“Slow down there. You can sit down.”

Michael sighed, “Adam, you really shouldn’t be exerting yourself…”

Adam rolled his eyes as he stood up from the table. “I need to get back into work sometime, and you can see for yourself that I’m more than fine. Besides, do you really think he - …” Adam pointed a finger towards the small man in the doorway, “..is going to do me considerable amounts of bodily harm?” Adam strode over to the man and draped his arms around his shoulders. “Of course he’s not.” The man was small, slim, and blonde, with the kind of feminine face Adam loved. His brown eyes crinkled as he smiled.

“I’m Adam,” he purred to him, and gave the man’s ear a little nip.

“Well, Kris,” Michael thumped the table with his fist, “Looks like that’s our cue to leave.”

“Mmhm,” Kris agreed, and quickly gathered up the dishes from the table in order to bring them outside to wash at the well.

 

Adam soon found out that the man’s name was Khalil. He also found out that he liked to ride, and he was good at it too. Adam persuaded him to stay long after he had planned to, and made some nice change in addition to a pleasantly-spent afternoon. The moments were few when Adam actually enjoyed what he did, so he made those times last as long as possible.

At the door much later, Adam slid Khalil’s traveling robes up onto his shoulders for him, while simultaneously sucking lightly at his neck. Adam moved up to his mouth while he fastened the robe’s ties, kissing him for a minute longer once he was done.

Adam followed him outside, and Khalil bade him goodbye with the smile of someone who had just received more than he had ever dreamed of wanting.

Once Khalil was gone, Adam spotted Michael and Kris sitting far off from the tent, in the sand. Adam went over to them, and as soon as he was near, Kris got to his feet.

“My goodness, Adam, finally!” Kris was balancing the stack of dishes in his arms, and hurried off towards the tent to put them away. Michael laughed as he watched him scamper off.

“You should have seen him trying to keep those clean from all the sand and dirt that kept getting blown up. He must have re-washed them at least four times.” Adam chuckled as he sat down next to Michael in Kris’ place.

“Poor guy.”

“The only poor guy I saw today was that kid who just left. I bet he had no idea what he was getting himself into. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought you were strangling him in there, with all those noises and shouting.”

“Hey, he probably just had the best afternoon of his life. And for your information, he was great, so don’t go talking slander on my favorites.”

Michael laughed out loud. “Alright, alright. Whatever you say, Mister Temptress.” Adam shoveled sand in Michael’s direction.

After that, a soft quietness settled around them, filled only with the soft hum of the wind.

Adam had felt light and cheerful from Khalil’s company, but just like the man himself, it was fleeting. Adam sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, and his arms linked loosely around them. He finally spoke, and his tone was soft while he looked off into the distance instead of at Michael.

`“I don’t see how he could ever come to love me,” Adam murmured, his suddenly broken voice steeped in self-loathing and a yearning impossible to describe. The subject change was sudden, but even though it had nothing to do with Khalil, Michael knew immediately to what – and who – Adam was referring. Michael looked away from the slumped, disheartened man.

“Don’t you see? He already does.”

Adam wouldn’t bother getting his hopes up. He couldn’t bear it. His sapphire eyes gazed out into the sky, watching the setting sun paint the heavens.

 

Michael grunted in effort as he hauled Adam’s trunk up onto the back of the camel and strapped it on tightly.

“Heavens above, he’s leaving for the weekend, not for life,” Michael muttered as he tied the straps below the camel’s belly. Not that he expected any less from Adam. Of course, he’d have to bring half his wardrobe with him when leaving to spend three days at some wealthy man’s estate.

Michael trudged through the sand and back inside the tent. Adam was still in his chamber powdering, and Kris wasn’t anywhere to be seen, so he must have been back there helping him. “What’s this bloke’s name again?” Michael called from the front doorway.

“It’s Lord Merrick! And you better not think about following me and hiding out there. He and his servants won’t appreciate that.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll restrain myself.”

As Michael went back outside, Kris emerged from Adam’s chamber all of a sudden. He had Adam’s new robes cradled carefully in his arms. Adam had been to the markets the day before to buy them. The fabric was black, but when closely inspected, thin, glimmering golden threads were visibly stitched through the cloth. Kris carefully spread out the robes over the table. Then, he picked up one of the heating lamps and lit it. He went over to the water basin in the corner, and poured out some water into a smaller bowl. He set the heating lamp on the floor, wrapped his hands in a cloth to keep from being burned, and held the bowl over the concentrated flame until steam was rising into the air and pouring out from the edges of the bowl.

He then carefully carried the bowl over to the table where Adam’s robes were laid. He passed the bowl closely over the robes so the steam would settle into the fabric. After he’d steamed the whole thing, he set the bowl on the floor. He pressed his forearm against one side of the robe, and then slowly slid his arm across it, flattening the fabric and getting out any wrinkles. Once he’d pressed the whole thing, he lifted it up and carefully draped the robe over a chair to dry.

It was only a few minutes later when Adam came out from his chamber in a flurry. His carefully-brushed hair was folded up into a turban to travel, and he had on a pair of tight, high-wasted pants. His face was painted up with rouge and foundations, and his electric blue eyes stood out with kohl slathered neatly around them.

“Here, these should be dry and ready to go,” Kris said and lifted the robe to hand to him. Adam smiled and thanked Kris as he slid the robe on and carefully tied up the front.

“Thank you, darling.” Adam brushed a kiss to Kris’ cheek before hurrying outside.

Kris followed, and watched as Adam went over to where Michael was holding the reins of the camel that was going to carry Adam to Merrick’s estate in town.

“You’ll be back in three days’ sunset?” Kris asked, coming out from the doorway.

“No later.”

Adam took hold of the reins from Michael, and hoisted himself up onto the camel’s back. Michael checked a second time that Adam’s trunk was secured, while Adam twisted the reins around his hands and tugged lightly, so the animal pawed the ground in anticipation to leave.

“See you soon, Kris. I’ll be back before you know.”

He shot Kris a wink, gave Michael a short wave, and then pulled the reins back. The camel made a noise as it stepped forward, and then broke into a paced run, carrying Adam away.

Kris crossed his arms as he stood where he was, watching until Adam was too small a figure in the distance to see anymore. Michael came over and slapped his back amiably.

“You gonna make it for three days without him?”

Kris rolled his eyes a little bit and smiled. “I’m sure I’ll be fine.”

Kris took a deep breath of the fresh air, and stretched his arms up in the air above his head, stretching. “But I think you should come to the markets with me tomorrow and help me pick out Adam’s favorite foods. I’ll make a big meal for when he arrives home.”

“That sounds nice. He’d appreciate it. But you know, you’re spoiling him and he’s going to get used to it. Don’t you think he’s already enough of a queen?” Michael said with a laugh and a joking grin.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with him.” Kris looked down at his feet, scuffing the sole of his boot against the sand as he spoke. “He’s perfect just how he is.”

Michael quickly grew serious. “You should tell him sometime, that that’s what you think.”

“I will…..I’m just,…waiting for the right time.”

“Well, don’t wait too long, Kris.” Michael turned then and went inside.

Kris faced again the horizon over which Adam had vanished just a little while ago.

“I’ll try not to.”

 

Adam had never before in his whole life seen a mansion as large, grand, or ornate as Lord Merrick’s. As soon as he dismounted the camel, two servants came hurrying out from the front gate of the estate. One took the camel’s reins from Adam, while the other unloaded Adam’s trunk. The tall, burly servant carrying Adam’s trunk instructed Adam to follow him as he walked through the front gate and up to the huge, double front doors. Adam followed, trying not to gape.

When he stepped through the front doors, he found himself facing a grand atrium that his whole tent could have fit inside. Two wide, curving staircases rose up from the floor, leading to countless upper floors and hallways. The servant carrying his trunk was already ascending one of the staircases.

“Are you Mister Lambert?”

Adam turned towards the voice that had spoken, and was met with a young servant girl, looking no older than fifteen, with long blonde hair and a simple brown dress. She bowed slightly, and held out her arms so that she might take his traveling clothes from him.

“Yes, that would be me.” Adam slid the tightly-wound turban off, and shook out his hair. “Thank you.” He gave her a little smile as he draped the wide cloth over her arm. Adam immediately gathered his hair over one shoulder, and started combing his fingers through the little knots the wrap had caused. It had kept his hair clean from kicked-up dust, but now it was all mussed.

There were few things Adam hated more than disheveled hair.

“Do you have a comb I could use, by any chance?” The girl nodded.

“I will show you to your room. There is an adjacent personal bathroom, where you’ll find all amenities.”

“I have my own room?” Adam asked with a raised eyebrow. He had visited some rich men’s houses before, and he was used to being confined to the master of the house’s bed.

“Of course.”

She turned towards one of the staircases, and Adam fell into step behind her. He kept up to her pace, following her up the stairs and down countless, seemingly-never ending hallways.

An excited voice suddenly came from behind Adam, calling out his name. Adam turned around, and smiled when he saw little David running down the hallway towards him.

“Hi, mister Adam sir!” David chimed with a grin as soon as he reached Adam. “I heard you would be coming today and I got really excited!”

“Is that so?” Adam kneeled down to match David’s height. “And how have you been doing? Nobody’s been working you too hard, have they?”

“Naaah, I’ve been fine.” David waved his hand dismissively, puffing out his chest a little bit. “How is Kris doing? He had all those bandages last time…”

“He’s doing great. He’s all healed.”

“That’s good. He was- ..”

“David, stop bothering Mr. Lambert,” the servant girl cut in. She placed her hands on the boy’s shoulders, turned him to face away from Adam and gave him a little push. “Don’t you have chores to do?”

The little boy huffed and crossed his arms. “Only dumb ones, cleaning the kitchen.”

“He’s fine,” Adam said immediately with a smile. He reached out to ruffle David’s mop of brown hair. David smiled as Adam stood up.

“Well, I guess I should be getting to work now. I’ll see you later, Mister,” David said and waved.

“Bye, David.”

The servant girl continued down the hall, and Adam turned to follow her. The girl stopped in front of a simple but large door, and opened it. She stepped aside to let Adam go in first. The room was large and spacious, the walls painted a smooth white, with red curtains and fixtures. There was a white, carved dresser with a large wash basin placed on top. The bed on the other side of the room was giant. There were black and red blankets and pillows piled up, and the bed looked ridiculously comfortable. Adam’s trunk had been set at the foot of the bed. Adam looked to the wall opposite the door, where there were windows lined up, looking out on beautiful gardens out behind the mansion. Adam let out a low whistle. How was it even possible for one man to have so much money?

“Your bathroom’s through here.” The servant girl pushed open a door next the dresser. “A servant will come every night to collect trash and empty the lavatory. You’ll find combs and anything else you’ll need in the drawers.”

“Very good. Thank you very much.” She nodded and bowed again.

Before she left, Adam asked, “Do you know where the Lord is? Will he send for me?”

“Lord Merrick is out on business right now, but he should be home by nightfall. I expect he’ll come himself when he wants to see you.”

“I see. Thank you.” The girl left and closed the door softly behind her.

Adam immediately focused on that spectacular bed. If the Lord wasn’t in, he figured he didn’t need to worry about his appearance for now. Adam took off the new robe that Kris had carefully pressed for him, and laid it out carefully over the top of the dresser. He let himself fall backwards into the heavenly soft bed, clad only in pants; nothing covering his chest. He curled up against the cushy blankets with a sigh of content. So far, he liked this Merrick character just fine.

 

It was almost nightfall when Adam saw a group of men on horseback travel across the path behind the house, where Adam had a perfect view. They dismounted the horses, and walked on foot around to the front of the house while servants took the horses and led them away. Adam knew one of them had to be his bedmate for the next two nights.

Adam had already prepared himself. He’d pulled on a new, silk tunic he’d bought. It was a deep, beautiful royal blue color, and Adam had chosen it because he knew it matched his eyes. Below the waist, he’d wormed his way into tight, black, cloth pants that molded to his body, accentuating and flaunting his thighs and hips perfectly. Adam had combed his hair until the long black locks laid straight and flawless, and styled it with most of it flipped over to one side. His eyes were done up with powders of shining silver, and just enough skin-colored powder was dabbed on to hide the little imperfections here and there of his skin that irked him. He’d threaded his usual earring of charms and feathers through the hole in his earlobe.

He regarded himself in the mirror, and was satisfied that he looked as good as he could.

It was only a few minutes later when there was a knock on the door, and Adam called ‘Enter’.

A man whom Adam assumed to be Merrick stepped through the door. He was older – looked to be in his forties – but was reasonably good looking and physically fit for his obvious age. He was wearing fancy riding clothes, clearly made of silk. His jaw was clean-shaven, and his short dark hair was brushed back neatly from his face. Adam gave him a pretty, curl-of-the-mouth smile from where he was sitting on the edge of the bed. He sat still as Merrick quickly but obviously looked him over.

“Adam? You’re somehow even more beautiful than I’ve heard.”

Adam smiled his prim smile a bit wider and crossed his hands over his knees.

“A lot of people seem to say that.”

Adam got the feeling from Merrick that he was somewhat informal and relaxed. Adam didn’t have to adhere to so much decorum and fancy-talk like he usually did around men of stature.

“Were all of your things brought in? How does the room suit you?”

“Your servants handled everything flawlessly. And the room suits me very well, thank you, my lord.” Adam made sure to add the words ‘my lord’, with that extra silky flair to his voice that he’d mastered. Men in high standing always seemed to enjoy being reminded of their place. Sure enough, Merrick’s mouth did seem to curl upwards the slightest bit.

“I assume you haven’t eaten dinner yet?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“Then please, accompany me to take supper,” Merrick said and offered Adam his arm.

“Of course.” Adam rose from the bed with his same perfect smile in place, and went to take the man’s arm.

 

Dinner consisted of multiple courses, and included the best fried fillet of fish Adam was sure he would ever eat – let alone lay eyes on again -, and wine so rich it’d made his teeth hurt. After the meal, Merrick had led Adam on a tour of the monstrous house, and also the gardens. Adam didn’t plan on visiting any places on the estate he wasn’t directly instructed to go to, as he was sure he’d get himself lost. The impromptu tour ended at the doors to Merrick’s master bedchamber, which Adam had been expecting since the beginning.

Merrick opened the doors, and Adam just stared for a moment into the huge room, and at the giant bed that must have been five times the size of his cot at home, and with beautiful silk drapes hung around it. Adam decided to just get right to it.

He strode into the room ahead of Merrick. He slowly and deliberately slid the heavy, dangling earring from his ear lobe, and set it down on one of the tables in the room as he made his way over to the bed. Then he sat down, his legs extended over the edge of the bed and leaning back on his hands in a purely inviting manner. Merrick followed in seconds. He stood just in front of Adam, and Adam lifted his head accordingly when Merrick’s fingers stroked over his jaw. His fingers then touched Adam’s chin, holding his head in place so Merrick could lean down and fit his mouth over Adam’s. Adam produced the soft noise of contentment he knew the other man to be expecting, and he looped his arms up loosely around Merrick’s waist. Merrick started sliding Adam’s tunic down from his shoulders. His mouth moved slowly down Adam’s neck, following newly revealed skin. Adam twisted his fingers in the silk of Merrick’s tunic, and made all the right noises.

 

Kris was bundled up, cozy as could be in his comfy blanket-cocoon bed on the floor. It was cold, but after that night so long ago when Kris had been frozen through by the frigid night air and Adam had had to warm him in his own bed, Adam had bought about ten blankets to add to Kris’ bed. Kris was sure he’d never be cold again.

But even with as comfortable and warm as he was, Kris was unable to fall asleep. He kept tossing and turning, and finding himself opening his eyes and looking now and again towards Adam’s empty cot. Kris was used to the company of Adam’s soft breathing, his whispered ‘Good night, Kris’ without fail before he fell asleep every night.

After lying awake for a short while longer, Kris finally pushed all his blankets back and got up from his bed. He walked over to Adam’s bed and slid in underneath the blankets. A content smile grew on his face as he settled into the soft bed. Kris curled up underneath the blankets, and he closed his eyes as his head sunk into the pillow. He was asleep within seconds, Adam’s scent wrapped around him just as much as the blankets were.

 

After the sex, Merrick had kept Adam in his bed for a little while. After only a few kisses a bit too messy or in places too private for Adam’s liking, Merrick told him to go sleep in his own room. Adam was surprised and grateful. These multiple-night stays had always included the unpleasant part of trying to sleep with the guy wrapped obscenely around him, whom Adam usually hated by this point. Adam was more than happy to be able to curl up in the unbelievably comfortable bed in the private room Merrick had provided for him. The guy really wasn’t all that bad. He hadn’t been rough, but ….really, he hadn’t been that great either. Adam was content enough though. The situation with Merrick had the potential to be disastrous, like Michael had feared, but everything was turning out just fine.

As Adam’s limbs all relaxed and he began to slip into sleep, his last thoughts were compulsorily of Kris. He wondered what Kris was doing right now, and pictured Kris bundled up in six blankets, and his brown hair sticking up in all different directions like it always did when he slept. Adam envisioned Kris’ flawless face peaceful, relaxed and exuding child-like innocence as he slept. Adam fell asleep within seconds, his heart warmed just as much as his skin was by the blankets.

 

Midday the following day, a horse-drawn carriage pulled up in front of Merrick’s manor. A woman stepped out, her nose high in the air and dressed in a fine, beaded sheath dress, her hair woven up into intricate braids that were tied at the ends with golden threads. Shiny bangles jangled from her wrists, and huge, shimmering golden necklaces hung against her chest.

The servant girl whose duty was doorkeeper greeted her.

“Good day, Lady Merrick.” The servant bowed lowly, and the woman just nodded and swept past her. The lady walked through the atrium, looking for the man of the house.

She opened the door to the dining room, and looked puzzled when she saw the dirty dishes from two place-settings for breakfast at the table. She had never known Merrick to take meals with the company of any servants. Ignoring the second place-setting for now, she thought that perhaps Merrick had gone back to bed after the morning meal.

She ascended the stairs, and went down the hallway that led to Merrick’s grand bedchambers. The double doors were closed, and she moved ahead to open them. But just as her hands reached out for the door handles, she heard a noise and paused.

She heard the noise again, from Merrick’s voice that was so familiar to her. The noises sounded alarmingly similar to those he made love making. She assumed he was alone in his bedroom, but then she heard other noises join Merrick’s. A second voice. One that was deep, and unmistakably masculine.

“Aah….a-ah….Lord,...oh…”

The woman standing outside the door stood frozen for a few moments. She heard the two voices slowly crescendo together, a duet of pleasure.

She finally turned away from the door and moved silently back down the hall, her face dark and clearly furious. She stormed back outside to her carriage, and was gone.

 

“Michael! Look at these!”

The large Michael made his way laboriously through the crowds, to get over to where Kris was standing at a cart that sold fruit. The day was breezy and not too warm, so Kris had on the simple but comfortable black pants Adam had bought for him the first time he and Adam had visited the markets together, and a light-weight traveling robe Adam had got him more recently.

“Which do you think Adam would like the best?” Kris asked, pointing to several different fruits, all fresh and delicious-looking.

Michael picked up several different ones and handed them to Kris. “I’d say those are your best bet. What are you going to use them for?”

“I’ll probably make a pie.”

Kris fished out a few coins from the pocket of his pants to pay the vender. Before he’d set out for the weekend, Adam had left out a purse of gold coins taken from the chest stuffed in the back of his dresser, in case Kris or Michael needed anything. Kris could think of no better way to use the money than ingredients for a Welcome Home feast.

Michael was already carrying a bag over his shoulder that was almost filled to the brim with ingredients. Now Kris was considering dessert, and after he set the fruit down in the bag, he quickly found flour and yeast for the pie and purchased them.

Then Kris dragged Michael over to a stand sporting flowers and other table centerpieces.

The two were both completely unaware of a man that had halted and stood still on the other side of the road, staring at them.

 

Since the Lord Dallon had not yet been able to find a new, capable servant to replace Kris, he was stuck making his own trips to the markets for the food his cooks needed. He heard a voice shout from across the street, ‘Michael! Look at these!’ and Dallon’s head whipped around right away at the instantly-recognizable voice.

Sure enough, Kris was there, standing in front of a stall on the other side of the road. There were crowds bustling along the road, but Dallon could see clearly enough to be positive that the boy was his runaway servant. Dallon had been sure that Kris was lying dead somewhere by now, broke and starved. He could hardly believe his eyes. There Kris was, looking healthy and perfectly well-nourished, and dressed in expensive-looking black pants and a light traveling robe that looked to be made of high-quality fabric rather than the threadbare tunics he’d lived his whole life in. To say the least, Dallon was enraged. How had the kid gotten the money for food, for nice clothes?! He’d never had a penny to his name! He’d snuck out of Dallon’s house like a rat, and now he was living the good life?

Dallon took a few steps into the road to go over to the little worm and drag him back where he belonged. But then a large, intimidating man came up next to Kris and started conversing with him. The man handed Kris some of the fruit he picked up from the vender, and Kris in turn set the fruit down in the sack the man was carrying over his shoulder. Dallon gnashed his teeth together as he watched Kris produce gold coins from a pocket and pay for the fruit. The two turned to head over to a different stall, and that was when Dallon saw the bigger man’s face, and instantly recognized him.

It was Adam Lambert’s bodyguard. The self-righteous giant of a man that acted as the whore’s guard dog and had repeatedly treated Dallon rudely. What in all hells was he doing at the markets with Kris?

Kris and the much-larger man had both turned their backs as they examined the wares of a different stall. Dallon had to figure this out. He slid through the crowd until he was within earshot of them. Making sure to always stay hidden behind other people or stalls, Dallon strained his ears to hear their conversation and observe them.

Kris had picked up a scarf made of shimmering purple fabric. It looked expensive.

“He’d love this. Do you think he’d mind my dishing out the money for it?”

The bigger man snorted like something was amusing. “You’re really asking if Adam would mind receiving an accessory that sparkles?” Kris chuckled, but then grew more serious as the man continued, “And if you’re the one who bought it for him? He wouldn’t care if you spent half his fortune on it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on, Kris. I pray you’ve realized how much he fancies you. Get him the blasted scarf. It’ll make his day.”

Kris paid for the scarf. He neatly folded it and then tucked it into an inside pocket of his robe.

“Let’s head home,” Kris said, nudging the man lightly with his elbow. “I’ve had enough of these crowds, I think.”

The man nodded in agreement. He and his size started navigating and pushing his way through the crowds. Kris hurried along behind him.

Dallon watched until they were no longer in sight, and tried processing what he’d heard. He knew that Adam’s guard lived with him, and it had sounded alarmingly like Kris was living together with them. What Dallon had found even more disturbing was the guard’s comment about Adam fancying Kris. Adam had arrogantly rejected all of Dallon’s advances, but he’d taken a liking to Kris – a worthless, runaway, unreliable servant kid? He’d taken such a liking to him that he’d taken Kris into his home and provided for him with fancy clothes and money?!

Dallon was angry. Furious.

 

Adam’s lips closed slowly and teasingly around Merrick’s fingers as the man fed him a strawberry. In the afternoon, Merrick had had the servants prepare a full grand picnic in his gardens. Adam thought the whole thing was just a bit on the ridiculous side, but he very well could have been tied up somewhere and treated like a pleasure slave, so he wasn’t complaining.

But really, Adam thought, he was a hired prostitute, not a dainty little lady to be courted. Merrick had given him jewelry earlier and everything. Adam might have found it charming and flattering if Merrick wasn’t so serious about it all. (or quite so old.) But Adam was an expert at reading people, and he could tell for a fact that Merrick was more amusing himself with all the pleasantries, rather than doing it all for Adam’s sake.

At Lord Merrick’s estate, a ‘picnic’ included wine, bread, and a two-course lunch carried on silver platters by servants. It was all so fancy it was starting to make Adam sick. He couldn’t wait to get back home to Kris’ cooking.

Once they’d finished eating and the dishes had been cleared, Merrick reached out to tug Adam nearer to him. Adam graced him with a smile, folding one arm over Merrick’s shoulder. Merrick tipped his head downwards to kiss him. Adam reached up to twist fingers in the lord’s hair, mussing the carefully-gelled strands as the single kiss deepened and extended over the following minutes.

Adam expertly worked his tongue into the man’s mouth, wondering if maybe – just for fun - he could kiss another gold necklace out of him.

 

When Adam arrived back home just before nightfall two days later, Michael was already sitting outside. He smiled when he saw Adam approaching, and called for Kris to come outside.

The first thing Adam said after he dismounted the camel was, “Be careful with my trunk, Michael. It’s twice as heavy now, with all the gifts and rubbish from the lord.”

David remained sitting on the camel, where he’d ridden seated in front of Adam. Michael came forward to unload Adam’s trunk, and David helped him unfasten the straps that kept it in place on the camel’s back.

“So how was he?” Michael asked as he heaved Adam’s trunk down and set it down on the ground.

“A perfect gentlemen. Treated me like I was his little wife or something. I was bored to tears. He was good for something, though.” Adam pulled open the front of his robe enough so that Michael could see the gold and silver necklaces piled around Adam’s neck. “And the actual payment is in my trunk.” Michael raised an impressed brow. His attention shifted to the little boy still sitting on the camel’s back.

“You’re the messenger kid, right? Why did you come out here?”

“Someone has to bring the camel back to the lord’s house after Mister Adam gets home.”

Adam stepped back over towards David and the camel. “Thanks for being my company. If Merrick is ever mean to you, just tell him I’ll hate him if he treats you badly.” Adam held his arms up, and David leaned down a little bit so they could hug.

That’s when Kris came barreling outside.

“Hi, Adam!” he said excitedly, coming over to Adam.

“Kris, honey!” Adam swept up Kris in a hug right away, and held tight for a couple seconds.

Kris and David just barely had the chance to wave to each other before David had to set off to head back to Merrick’s house.

Kris turned to Adam excitedly. “Wait until you see all the stuff we’ve got for you!”

“The…stuff? What do you mean?”

“Come on, come on! I’ll show you!”

Kris slid his hand into Adam’s and led him inside the tent. When Adam stepped inside, the first thing that greeted him was an array of heavenly-delicious scents. Adam looked around, and he focused on all the different dishes and plates of steaming food that were set out on the table. Each and every one looked absolutely mouth watering.

“I…I tried to make all your favorites, ..everything you like…” Kris spoke more softly now, bashful.

“Oh….Kris..” Adam murmured in wonder as he walked closer to look over all the food, looking like his whole vocabulary had just been shocked out of him.

“Oh wait! Wait, there’s more!” With that, Kris scurried back to Adam’s room and emerged with what looked like a piece of purple, shimmering fabric folded up and tucked under his arm. “Here…I saw this at the markets when I was buying all the food ingredients, and knew you would love it…”

Adam took the scarf as Kris handed it to him. He unfolded it, and his face lit up when he saw the shimmering fabric. Adam unleashed a huge smile, a completely unguarded one, the likes of which Kris had never seen before. Adam twirled the scarf up around his neck and tied it loosely in the front.

“You know, Kris….” Adam said, beaming, “Merrick gave me gold jewelry, and multiple-course meals prepared on fine china by his best cooks…but none of that worthless stuff meant half as much, or made me half as happy as you just did.” Kris smiled and scuffed his feet a little against the carpet floor.

“Maybe I went a little overboard….but it was the first time you’ve been away…” Adam shook his head and stepped forward to hug Kris as tightly as he could.

“No, it’s all absolutely perfect. You’re perfect.” A smile appeared on Kris’ face to match Adam’s, and he let his forehead settle into the soft curve of Adam’s neck as Adam laid a kiss to Kris’ hair.

Michael walked into the tent at that moment, and laughed when he saw them clinging to each other. “For heaven’s sake, you can snuggle later. We need to eat Kris’ food before it gets cold.”

“Yeah, we do!” Adam said excitedly, looking again at all of the dishes and plates of food spread out over the table. “Good gods, Kris, I don’t know where to start,” he said with a laugh.

Kris went over to the table and picked up one bowl and a spoon. “How about here? It’s your favorite soup….vegetable with potatoes and cream...”

“That sounds like the perfect place to start.” Adam said, still sporting his huge smile, and took the bowl.

 

Adam loved Kris’ pie so much, that the following day he begged Kris to make another. Kris didn’t have the necessary ingredients though, so he asked Michael to go buy what he needed in the markets. Adam planned on turning away any customers, because his time with Merrick had exhausted him, and he’d ‘had enough action for the whole week’. Adam told Michael to go and not to worry.

Kris and Adam laid out together in the cushions in the main area of the tent. Adam was reading aloud from one of his favorites from the books Kris had read to him. Adam still read a bit slowly and had to pause before long words, but he was reading so much more easily now than before Kris had started helping him. Kris checked the page every so often over Adam’s shoulder, to make sure he was getting all the words right. Ninety percent of the time, he was.

Adam let out a dramatic, exhausted sigh when he finished a chapter, and Kris laughed.

“Oh, come on. You know you’re reading so much better now than you were.”

“Yeah, I know I am, but it’s still really exhausting!” Adam set the book aside, and shifted around a little bit in the cushions so he could see Kris better. “But it’s thanks to you that I can actually read these whole books now. Thanks for being patient and helping me.”

“You caught on really fast. I hardly even had to do anything.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps entering the tent.

“Oh, that’s probably Mi-…” Adam said, sitting up, then was silenced and frowned when he saw that the man standing the in the doorway definitely wasn’t Michael. He sure was big enough, though.

Adam stood up from the cushions. Today, he was dressed just in comfortable leggings and a loose shirt – nothing flirtatious. He hadn’t even brushed his hair to the glistening point.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I’m closed today. I’m not feeling well, you see.” The man didn’t look at all derailed by Adam’s words, and Adam sighed frustratedly as the man’s eyes cruised him anyway.

“You look perfectly fine to me,” the man said gruffly.

Before Adam responded, he turned to say softly to Kris, “Why don’t you go back to my chamber? No need for you to hear this.” Kris hesitated for a moment, looking back and forth between Adam and the hulking man. But Kris knew Adam could handle himself perfectly well. He stood up and went back to the back room he and Adam now shared.

“Now sir, everyone may make it their business to pay attention to and judge my looks. But my business is my health, and that will not be coming second in place behind your interests. A man is only as good as how he feels, and I do not feel up to entertaining you.”

“Yeah, you’re really, really sick if you think I came all the way out to your little hovel in the styx to be met with a ‘closed’ sign.” Adam sighed. He closed his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose.

“You listen. I’ve had a very trying weekend, trust me for a moment and believe that it was much more strenuous than walking the distance here. You can come back tomorrow, or any other day you please, and I will be more than happy to satisfy you.”

“Today is the day I please.”

Adam was really starting to regret sending Michael out.

 

Kris had sat himself down on Adam’s bed, with the book they’d been reading earlier spread out on his lap. He had just finished the second page when he heard a sudden crashing sound and an exclamation of pain from Adam’s voice. Kris’ head shot up immediately, alarmed.

Kris jumped up from the bed, and panicked for a moment as he thought of anything he could do. He looked around the room wildly for ideas. He spotted the broom in the corner of the room, and ran over to grab it. Without a second of hesitation, Kris rushed out from the room. Adam was slumped sideways, leaning against the table, and the man was advancing on him.

“Get away from him!” Kris didn’t need to see anything else. He swung the broom handle into the air, rushed forward, and then smashed the wooden handle right against the man’s head. He howled in pain and took a few stumbling steps backwards, away from Adam. Kris threw himself in between Adam and the man, and swung the broom again. It hit the side of his head this time, and he yelled out again.

That was when Michael parted the curtains of the front door, and was finally back. He quickly took in the scene with alarm written plainly on his face. Michael ran over and twisted the man’s arms tight behind his back, immobilizing him. The blows to the head from Kris had him still stumbling around and groaning.

“Get outside, you fat bastard,” Michael muttered angrily as he pushed the man out of the tent, and then followed to make sure he left.

Immediately, Kris dropped the broom and turned to Adam. Adam was clinging to the table to support himself, and had one hand cradled over the side of his face. He let out a whole stream of curses. Kris leaned down to wrap his arms around Adam’s midsection, and helped him stand. Adam’s hand fell from his face to instead hold onto Kris’ shoulder. Kris sucked in a breath and frowned when he saw the purple bruise already blossoming below Adam’s right eye.

“It’s alright. Come on, let’s go back and I can try cleaning this up,” Kris said gently. Adam didn’t say anything, but let Kris turn him around and help him back to his chamber.

“Funny, isn’t it,” Adam said dryly, his voice sounding void from emotion. “Saying no to them gets me hurt worse than if I just shut up and let them screw me.”

Kris didn’t say anything. He frowned, bit his lip, and helped Adam sit down in the seat in front of his vanity table. Adam looked in the mirror and took in the large, growing spot staining his whole right cheek by now. Adam swore again.

Kris picked up a cloth from Adam’s table, and dunked it under the surface of the water in the wash basin in the room. He brought the wet cloth over to Adam and handed it to him wordlessly. Adam took it, and pressed it over the darkest part of the bruise, to try to keep swelling down. After only a few seconds, Adam threw the cloth down onto the table with a sudden angry shout. He covered his face with his hands, his elbows leaning on the table. His cheek was already swelling. Kris just watched Adam for a moment, unsure what to do and hating that.

“Hey,…” Kris tried, placing a gentle, comforting hand on Adam’s shoulder. Adam’s hands dropped away from his face, and Kris was surprised to see the little shine of tears in Adam’s eyes. The only other time Kris had seen him cry was after the man with the pearls had abused him. But unlike then, these tears were all angry and bitter.

 

Supper was quiet, as the afternoon hung over their heads. Michael started muttering angrily a few times about ‘the filthy bastard’ who’d hit Adam, but Adam just kept his face tipped down towards his bowl, and didn’t join in with Michael’s trashing. Kris couldn’t stop watching Adam with concern. He was still silent, still looked hurt and brooding from what had happened. It wasn’t like him to ever stay upset over anything for too long. But today, it seemed like the man’s fist had taken his usual spirit right from him.

As soon as he was done eating, Adam stood up from the table wordlessly, and went back to his chamber. Kris watched him disappear through the doorway, and then looked back to the empty plate Adam had left at the table.

“What’s wrong with him?” Kris asked Michael softly, frowning. Michael shook his head.

Michael whispered back to him, “If anyone can find out, it’s you.”

Michael actually gathered the dishes himself, and placed them in the wash basin. Then, he slipped outside. Kris just sat at the table for a few moments, wondering whether he should go to Adam and try to comfort him, or leave him in his own peace. Kris went over to clean the dishes, and put them away in the cupboard.

Night was already falling, and Kris lit the lamps in the tent. Kris ducked through the doorway to Adam’s chamber, to light the lamps there as well. Adam had only lit the lamp on his vanity table. As Kris lit the others, bathing the whole room in light, he saw that Adam was painting foundation liberally over his face, seeing if he could hide the grisly bruise.

Kris sat down on Adam’s bed, and pulled his legs in to sit cross-legged. He sat there silently for a while, just watching Adam blot on the stuff and blend it. By the time Adam was almost finished covering his whole face, it was apparent that the purplish bruise would still show through no matter how much make up he slathered over it.

Kris heard him swear softly, and pick up a cloth to start wiping all the stuff off his face.

“Weren’t you planning on not working for a while, anyway?” Kris spoke up softly from the bed.

Adam was silent until he’d finished wiping off every last bit of the make up. Then he dropped the towel down onto the table, and dropped his forehead into his hands with a long sigh.

“I know. I just…can’t stand knowing that it’s there….knowing that a man could just ... walk in here and do that to me. Every time I look in the mirror, looking at that fucking mark he put on me.”

Kris didn’t say anything. He could point out the obvious, that the bruise would fade and disappear in a few days, but he knew there was no point in saying it. It was obvious that the mark meant so much more to Adam, ran so much deeper to him.

Adam sighed, and looked up into the mirror. He looked towards Kris’ figure on the bed, but didn’t quite meet his eyes. Kris watched his face in the mirror, and saw an expression there like he’d never quite seen before. It wasn’t the first time he couldn’t tell what Adam was thinking or feeling – Adam was a professional at hiding those things. But it was the first time Kris could see movement or an upset beneath the mask.

When Adam had been abused, broken down crying, and Kris had kissed him in the wash basin, it had been like Adam wasn’t himself. This was different. This was him. And this time there was something coming through.

“Kris….” Adam’s voice was softer, coarser, and there was emotion bundled up in it. “Nobody, not even Michael, has heard my story all the way from the beginning. Can I … can I tell you? It can be like when you read those books to me, … but I’m afraid, my story’s not quite as cheery.”

Kris couldn’t believe Adam really wanted to tell him this, really wanted to open up. Kris had been clinging to every little bit Adam gave him about himself. Kris tried not to look too eager. Being supportive and there for him was the priority.

“You know I would love to hear anything you want to tell me.”

Adam knotted his hands up in the towel he’d dropped on the table. His eyes dropped away from the mirror as he began.

“My father owned a brothel. My mother worked there for him. They weren’t in love, and neither of them planned on me. My mother was so adverse to the idea of having me, that as soon as she’d recovered from giving birth, she left the house. No one knows where she went. My father didn’t so much as want to look at me. So, the six women who still lived and worked in his house took me in as their own. Every one of them, they were all kind and loving to me. They made sure I got three meals a day, tucked me into bed every night, and one of them would always stay by my bedside and take care of me when I was sick. I didn’t miss my mother growing up. They played with me, and taught me how to read, as well as they knew. One of them, … she had the most gorgeous singing voice in the world. After she heard me sing once, she taught me how to control and use my voice better. I was happy. I was loved.

“My father never took any interest in me, until the day I turned thirteen. I didn’t know him, I barely even had a glimpse of him. But, he saw me when I was in the kitchen, helping the women bake my birthday cake. He deemed me ‘pretty enough’, and told me I was to join his catalogue. I didn’t know what he meant. The women all tried to protect me. The first night he was to take me to work, one of them hid me under a loose floorboard beneath her bed. None of them would tell my father where I was. He looked everywhere, stormed throughout the whole house screaming and breaking things. From my hiding place, I watched his feet come through the door. The lady who’d hidden me tried to get him to leave her room, and … I saw him hit her. He said he’d do it again if she didn’t tell him where I was. I crawled out from my hiding spot, and told my father ‘I’m here. Please don’t hurt her.’ I didn’t understand why, right then, she started crying.

“So, my father dressed me in these ridiculous silk robes. He told me to follow him out to where all the guests were, and to leave my robe untied. He didn’t let me wear anything underneath. I … remember every detail of that first time. The man … had these awful green eyes. He called me ‘son’ the whole time, … and he just wouldn’t look away…”

Adam’s voice faded off, so soft Kris could barely hear his last word. His head was slumped down all the way now, and he was bent over the vanity table. Kris swallowed hard, feeling such sadness in his heart as he processed everything Adam said, that Kris felt like he was drowning in it. He didn’t know how Adam lived with it every day. Kris was just about to stand up and go over to Adam, when he went on.

“I became a nightly installment in my father’s house. Soon, I was his main attraction. Every night, he’d gather all his guests together, and make me sing and dance for them. Then he’d sell me for the night to whoever was willing to pay the highest. It went on and on… for years. It wasn’t until I was seventeen that I realized I could take advantage of my popularity. By now, I was so used to what my father did with me, … so accustomed to it, that I knew how to charm all the men my father gave me to. I started collecting a small amount of money from them every night in addition to what they paid my father, and always made sure they wouldn’t tell him about it. I hid the money away in a place no one else in the house knew about, and added to it every night. By the time I was eighteen, I had more than enough to run away and live on my own. Now, around the same time, Michael began visiting the house regularly. He really fancied one of the girls there, was completely smitten. I saw him every time he came in, and we came to be good friends.

“When I had finally amassed enough money, I made a whole plan of how to escape. But the very night I was planning on doing it, my father found the money I’d hidden. He was enraged when he discovered all the money I’d kept from him. You see, nothing was more important to him than money. With all that money, and my plan to leave, he was absolutely furious with me. But as soon as he got a hold of me, Michael saw what was happening, and he fought my father off. He saved my life.

“Obviously I couldn’t stay there. I’d lost all the money, but Michael brought me back to stay with him. Every day, though, I was still frightened to death my father would find me. Only a short while later, the girl Michael loved was sold for life to some wealthy man with a fortune. He had no idea where she’d been taken. Now, neither of us had any reason to stay. I had Michael visit the brothel one last time, to see if the women who raised me could escape with us. They all said it would be too risky, and wanted me to leave right away while I had the chance.

“So, we traveled for days, until we found this small town out here. This was finally a place I was sure my father could never follow. Michael wasn’t rich by any means, but we were able to buy a guestroom in an inn for a few nights. We needed money, but there isn’t much work around here for a runaway prostitute and a train-sized man like him. Obviously, there was only one line of work available. I started out here the same as those beggar ladies on the side of the wagon trails, waiting for someone to pick me up. One thing I had that they didn’t, though, was experience, and a tough skin. There’s one thing I can thank my damned father for. I squeezed the money out of men for this place of our own, and for more than enough food, clothing, and oil. We’ve never been short of money since. I probably could have retired a long time ago, but I just … haven’t.”

After sitting there still for a few seconds, just struggling to take all that in, Kris got up from the bed now. He had to do something for Adam, but he didn’t know what he could. He slowly went over to where Adam was sitting, and reached out to place a hand on his shoulder.

“I…don’t know what to say. I don’t have anything to say that would be anywhere near good enough, but … I’m so sorry.” One hand on his shoulder didn’t cut it. Kris leaned down, and slid his arms around Adam’s chest. His chin rested on the back of Adam’s shoulder, and his hands splayed across Adam’s chest, holding him as much as he could from behind. “You deserve … everything. You deserve the best life imaginable. You’ve gone through so much, … but you’re still such a strong, good person.” Adam’s hand rose to find one of Kris’, and hold onto it. Kris kissed the side of his head gently.

Adam slowly turned his head from the mirror. He moved slowly, like he was coming out of some kind of trance, or a paralyzation. Warmth seemed to spread from Kris’ hands – across his chest, and all the way through to his heart. Adam turned in the chair, and tilted his head into the crook of Kris’ shoulder. He let Kris hold him, and his body sagged against Kris’. It felt impossibly good … someone finally staying, someone finally helping him with the terrible weight that had been pulling on his shoulders for as long as he could remember.

But Adam knew he wasn’t finished yet. There was more he had to tell Kris.

“Do you remember when you asked me why I keep doing this? Why I keep selling myself?” Kris nodded, his arms still around Adam. “I told you it was because it’s all I know. Well, there’s a second reason.”

Adam pulled away just a little bit. Kris’ hands stayed on his shoulders, still trying to support Adam as much as he could.

“It’s because…I’ve been waiting for him. Waiting for that one, right man to come through the door one day. The one who will take me away from all of this, and give me everything I’ve ever wanted.” Adam’s tone was bitter and self-loathing, like he was laughing at himself for all the times he’d thought this. “That one man who curls up in bed with me, clothed, and who wants nothing more than just to hold me. Someone who whispers in my ear how much they love me, right before I fall asleep.”

Adam turned away from Kris’ hands, to look at himself in the mirror again. He reached a hand up to touch his fingers to the bruise marring his face.

“This is why I was calling myself stupid earlier … It was so silly of me to think that …”

Adam closed his eyes with a soft sigh, and raked a hand through his now-disheveled hair. Kris reached out to where Adam’s fingers were twisted mercilessly into his own hair, and replaced them with his own. Kris stroked his fingers gently through Adam’s long, soft hair.

Kris couldn’t be quicker to disagree. “It isn’t silly or stupid at all for you to want that.”

Adam seemed to stare through the mirror itself, to be looking past it as he lost himself in his thoughts.

“I didn’t see … that man would never come here through that door. He would never want that from me.” Adam turned to look at Kris, looking right up into his face. “You see, Kris … all this time, .. I’ve been looking in all the wrong places.”

Adam suddenly rose from the chair, almost knocking it over in the process. Despite that, his voice stayed soft. It sounded gentle, and tender. Kris thought of the voice Adam used with his customers, and there was such a grave difference between that and his soft sincerity now.

“Kris, you … you’ve stayed here with me for so long. I’ve lost track of how many moons it’s been. I used to be so accustomed to being alone back here, just a few words with Michael each day. Now, … I don’t know what I would do if I lost you, if you weren’t around to talk to and make me smile, or … to hold my hand and keep me from doing that twist thing with my hands that irritates you so much.” Kris smiled, laughing softly at Adam’s words. The side of Adam’s mouth just quirked up a little. It was clear he was set on a strict path in his mind.

He continued, “The day I first saw you, I remember you completely outshone Dallon. I could hardly look away from how beautiful you are, and I felt so terrible as you struggled under that huge chest of jewels..”

Kris remembered that day vividly. He thought it ironic that Adam was calling him beautiful now, when Adam had been the one so stunning and seductive on the day they’d first met. Kris laughed softly aloud, and shook his head.

“You’re calling me beautiful? You’re the one people travel across the desert to see.”

“They don’t matter, Kris.” Kris was taken aback when he looked into Adam’s eyes, and saw the fire and the affection Adam was turning to him. “You’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever laid eyes on, because it’s all natural and real. And your personality is part of it, the way you’re so kind and open to everyone. Even me.”

Kris noticed Adam take a small step closer. Adam’s hand rose up like he had the intent to touch Kris’ face. Kris watched Adam’s hand stop and grow still in indecision, only inches away from Kris’ skin. When he looked to Adam’s face, it was clear he was struggling with himself – still convincing himself he had permission to do it, even though it was obvious he so wanted to. After watching Adam’s frozen hand for a second, Kris reached up to take Adam’s wrist, and guide his hand to his face. Kris smiled at the taller man as he placed Adam’s hand against his cheek, and leaned into the touch. After a few brief moments, Adam’s fingers spread out so he could cup the side of Kris’ face.

Adam took a deep, shaky breath.

“This life is all I’ve known. For so long, I’ve come to not feel anything – for it not to hurt when someone takes me too far, and not to hear it when people call me a whore. But Kris, … I feel everything with you. I can’t remember the last time I did that. After that time I was hurt, I knew it was alright, safe to cry in front of you. And you made me feel loved and cared about.” Adam took another shaky breath, and ran his fingers gently over Kris’ cheek. “I’ve never met anyone like you before. No one who sees me the way you do. Who actually cares to try.”

Kris’ eyes were wide as he listened to Adam. Adam’s heart warmed as he stared into their temperate, twinkling depths.

“It’s hard for me to think about stopping. I don’t know if I have the strength. It was so hard the first couple years, I had to make myself accustomed to it … I had to let it become a part of me. Making myself stop will be just as hard as it was to live through that day, after my Father let that man take everything from me that night when I was thirteen.”

Kris’ eyes grew wet, his heart twisted by Adam’s words. Adam traced his thumb over Kris’ cheekbone, silently trying to get the wetness to go away.

“Please don’t cry,” Adam soothed Kris softly. “I haven’t even gotten to the point of what I want to say yet.” Kris wiped his eyes, and sniffled the tears away before looking back up into Adam’s face.

He was standing so close. Kris took in his eyes, every detail of his face. He was flawless just the way he was – without makeup. Kris felt his heart fluttering around on wings in his chest.

Adam closed his eyes, trying to get a hold of himself. Saying what he was thinking right now was so hard. Not because he doubted it, or thought it wasn’t true, but because he was afraid of Kris’ reaction, and that he wouldn’t be able to find the strength in himself to go through with it and to really trust Kris so completely. But he had already begun. And Kris’ eyes were so compassionate and understanding towards him. Adam wanted, more than anything, to know he was right in what his heart hoped he could have.

“Kris, … if I give all this up, and give myself only to you from now on, turn my back on this life forever, … would you stay with me? C-could you … love me?” Adam’s voice broke suddenly when he said that four letter word that he had dreamt about and imagined his whole life long.

His hand suddenly withdrew from Kris’ face, and instead covered his own. He didn’t think he’d ever been more terrified in his life. He’d never felt more vulnerable. Not even the first time his body had been taken.

Kris stared at him with surprise and shock for a few moments. He never thought Adam would strip himself bare like that, would lay out so plainly what it was he most longed for. But even though Adam had never voiced it before, Kris had known. All Adam had ever wanted was for someone to truly love him.

Kris’ tongue felt frozen with the shock and the feeling of Adam’s pain. After a few moments of seemingly unending silence, Adam shifted and turned away from Kris, taking the silence as an answer in itself. He was still covering his face, and his shoulders hunched up in a way alarmingly unbefitting to the constantly confidant man he always seemed. Why would Kris ever love him anyway?

Kris realized immediately what Adam was thinking, and hurriedly stepped forward. He placed his hands on Adam’s back. “Hey, .. Adam, no. Please look at me.”

Adam obliged and turned slowly. His hands fell away from his face, but his eyes were downcast. The bruise on his cheek had by now turned an ugly, dark shade of purple. Kris reached up to cradle Adam’s face between his hands. Adam looked up slowly.

“I was afraid I was so obvious,” Kris said softly, standing as close as he could and keeping Adam’s gaze locked with his and his eyes as tender and loving as possible. “I thought you would have seen. Adam, I’ve loved you for a long time now.”

Adam looked perplexed, unable to process what Kris had said.

“Maybe it was when you bought me those new clothes for the first time, or when you invited me into your bed when I was cold, or when you kept me safe when Dallon came here again. I don’t know exactly when, but I’ve fallen completely in love with you.”

Tears pooled up in Adam’s eyes, and several fell down his face. “Y-you’re being honest?” he whispered, broken and raw, like he couldn’t believe Kris was for real. It broke Kris’ heart.

“More honest than I’ve ever been.”

Adam let out a sudden harsh breath that sounded akin to a sob. As Kris’ hands fell to Adam’s shoulders, Adam touched Kris’ face again. He watched reverently as his fingers trailed across the planes of Kris’ face. Kris closed his eyes and leaned into the soft touch of Adam’s fingers. Adam felt a tear land on one of his outstretched arms.

“Kris …”

Kris opened his eyes again so he could see the man he was so in love with. Adam’s eyes were glistening in a way not only from tears. His hands still holding onto Adam’s shoulders, Kris rose up the slightest bit on his toes. Adam’s hands slowly danced down from Kris’ face, instead finding their way down to rest on his hips. He didn’t grip, he placed his hands as lightly as he could.

Their heads both tilted together, and their eyes stayed locked until the last possible moment. Both of them slowly and tentatively drifted in, until their lips met in a brief, soft kiss. They pulled apart as soon as they had come together. Kris’ hands slid inwards across Adam’s shoulders to hold on better, before he leaned in again.

They kissed a second time. Both of their lips were closed, and the kiss was steeped in affection of the gentlest, most tender kind. They kissed a third time, and then a fourth. Each time their lips immediately separated, and they’d glide back in to feel the soft sensation again. A fifth time, a sixth. Kris cupped the side of Adam’s neck, and Adam’s fingers splayed out across Kris’ hip. A seventh, and then they lost track as they were lost in each other.

After what seemed like hours spent in paradise, Kris pulled back and opened his eyes again. Adam’s breathing was speeded but even, and while his eyes were dry and filled to the brim with unparalleled joy, there was still dampness on his cheeks.

Kris wiped the tears away softly with his thumbs. Then, he leaned in to leave little kisses to cover the tear tracks.

“I love you so much,” Adam whispered in a hushed voice. Kris pulled back to look at him, beamed a smile that seemed to Adam to be pure sunshine, and cupped the side of Adam’s face with his hand. Adam slid his hands up Kris’ back to pull Kris in against his chest. He enveloped Kris as tightly as he could in his arms, and pressed his face against Kris’ hair while Kris laid his head on Adam’s shoulder and kept a tight hold around Adam’s back.

They held each other for several long moments. Adam was awed by the way he could swear he physically felt Kris’ love. Maybe he had been foolish not to see Kris’ feelings through his own self-hating view of the world.

Kris remembered suddenly what Adam had said before, about the reason he hadn’t stopped working, and what he’d been longing for. Kris gently slid away from the embrace to go over to Adam’s bed, pull back the covers, and slide in. “Get in bed with me,” he said.

Adam’s heart stuttered and froze for a second, as he thought Kris was asking for the one thing Adam had prayed he never would. But then Adam saw Kris’ loving smile, and the way he patted the bed next to him, and realized that wasn’t what he meant at all. Adam couldn’t have been more relieved.

Adam was smiling, and it was the first time he’d ever been completely happy to get into bed with someone else. Kris remembered what Adam had said about wanting to just be held in bed by someone who loved him. Kris reached out to gently pull him in, and Adam rested his head on Kris’ chest as Kris’ arms entwined around him. Adam let out a shuddering breath as he closed his eyes and placed one arm across Kris’ chest to hold onto him.

Kris gathered Adam close in his arms, and kissed the top of his head. After just holding him silently for a while, he moved one hand to gently trail his fingers through Adam’s dark hair.

“I want to stay here with you forever, if you’ll have me,” Kris murmured softly. “I want to be with you. You don’t have to promise me anything. But if you think you’re ready, I’ll do everything I can to try and help you out of this life.”

Adam lifted his head and leaned up on his elbows – one arm on each side of Kris – so he could see his face. “If I’m somehow lucky enough for you to really love me, I don’t need anything else. I’m going to stop, Kris. I’m never selling myself to anyone ever again. …Not when I have you.”

He touched Kris’ face again, and Kris smiled and covered Adam’s hand with his own.

“I do love you. Please don’t doubt that for a second.”

“I’ll try, it just seems too good to be true,” Adam whispered, leaning down with his lips only seconds from Kris. He kissed him, and savored every little thing he felt.

“It’s not,” Kris murmured when Adam pulled away a moment later. “You deserve everything this world has to offer, and no sadness.”

Adam smiled like Kris had rarely seen before.

“You’re the best thing this world has ever given me, and I don’t think the gods could ever best you.”

Now it was Kris’ turn to smile and blush slightly. Adam grinned. He kissed Kris’ cheek as he curled up against his side.

 

A young man showed up on horseback just after sunrise. Why he was there so ungodly early, Michael had no clue. Seeing as he was a young and fairly attractive thing, rather than an old geezer, Michael went inside to see if Adam was up. Michael poked his head through the doorway to Adam’s chamber. He was caught off guard by the sight of Kris and Adam together in Adam’s bed.

Adam’s head was in the crook of Kris’ shoulder, and Kris’ arms were around him, his chin resting atop Adam’s head. At the sound of Michael’s footsteps and the draft that flew into the room from the curtain in the doorway being pulled back, Kris made a soft noise and shifted, rolling around so his back was pressed against Adam’s chest. Adam reacted, one arm sliding around Kris’ waist and holding his smaller form close. Adam roused from sleep only for a moment, tugging Kris closer and curling his body around Kris. He pressed a sleepy kiss to the side of Kris’ head. Kris yawned and mumbled something only Adam could hear, before slipping back into sleep. Then Adam was instantly asleep again as well, with a serene smile on his face.

Michael couldn’t remember ever seeing a happier sight. “About time.” He promptly went outside to chase the man on horseback away.

 

“Love you,” Kris mumbled to Adam sleepily, just before Adam fell back asleep.

 

Adam woke up to warmth. Someone’s arm was slung over him, and there was hot breath brushing over his neck. At first, he struggled to remember who he’d been in bed with before he’d fallen asleep. He hadn’t been dumb enough to fall asleep with a customer, had he? Adam blinked his eyes open. As his vision focused, Kris’ face came into view. He was curled up against Adam’s side, his head leaning against Adam’s shoulder. Adam took in his precious, sleeping face so near, and didn’t ever want to move as warmth spread through his chest and memories from the previous night came back.

Kris loved him. Kris loved him.

As gently as he could, being careful not to wake the sleeping boy, Adam curled his arms loosely around Kris. Just to hold him, just to be able to take in and feel what it was like to be able to take Kris in his arms like this and curl up with him.

The sunlight was melting into the room through the sturdy tent’s walls, pouring slowly over Kris’ face and through his hair. Adam was sure he’d never seen a sight more beautiful. As softly as he could, he left just the lightest little kiss on Kris’ forehead. Adam didn’t think Kris would ever know how much this meant to him – how much he meant to him.

Kris awoke not long after, to his forehead resting against Adam’s chin, and Adam’s arms cradling him close. Kris yawned, and Adam chuckled a little.

“We slept a long time. You still tired?” Kris smiled slowly and shook his head a little.

“No, just waking up,” he mumbled, Kris blinked a few times sleepily, his head pillowed against Adam’s shoulder. Adam reached up to stroke his face.

“You’re so beautiful. I woke up just a little while ago, and I haven’t been able to stop watching you.” Adam tilted his head down to kiss Kris softly. Kris was smiling wide when Adam pulled back, looking considerably less sleepy. Adam moved his hand from Kris’ cheek to his hair, stroking the brown strands back gently from his face. “I don’t think I’ve ever slept better than I just did,” Adam told him.

“Was it an extra comfy night for your bed?” Kris asked with a smile, snuggling in closer to Adam.

“No, I’m pretty sure it had more to do with how there was someone holding me all night. And … that I got to sleep right next to the only man I’ve ever been and ever want to be in love with.”

Adam kissed Kris’ chin, Kris blushed and smiled.

“For never being in love before, you sure know how to deliver the mushy sentiments.” Kris tilted his head up, so Adam’s next kiss landed on his lips. Adam’s hand stroked through Kris’ hair, and the kiss remained light, sweet, and short.

“You know,” Kris said, cuddling up close. “I’ve never been close to anyone like this, ever. Never kissed anyone, or ever really been hugged, except by my mom when I was really little. I bet you’re laughing on the inside at how I blush at everything, and I guess I’m not that good of a kisser.”

“Baby, that’s what I love about you.” Adam smiled with a soft laugh, and kissed Kris’ forehead. “You’re so ridiculously precious and adorable and sweet, all I want to do is hug you and take care of you forever. And for your information, your kisses are the best I’ve ever had. No one else kisses me like that. So really, it’s like these are my first kisses too. I’m just as much of a novice to this as you. I’ve never before felt for anyone else anything close to what I do for you.”

Kris smiled, laughed a little and shook his head. “How is it, you always have the exact right thing to say?”

“It’s because I love you. People can do everything perfectly when they’re in love, haven’t you learned that from those storybooks?” Kris laughed, and Adam kissed his smile. “Maybe I’m talking too much about how I’m in love.”

“You can never talk too much about it,” Kris assured him with a grin.

“It just makes me really excited and happy. And it’s even better now, that I can tell you, instead of just thinking it.”

“I know what you mean.” Kris leaned up on his elbows, and leaned down to kiss Adam once more. “It may be the best part of being in love. Now, I can do this.” Kris suddenly fell silent, and Adam was puzzled as Kris’ statement was unfinished. But just before Adam was going to say something, Kris murmured to him tenderly, “I love you, Adam.” Almost instantly, a radiant, completely uninhibited and true smile began to grow on Adam’s face.

“That’s what I mean,” Kris said with a grin. “Now, I can make you smile in that way you hardly ever do.”

Adam tugged Kris down next to him on the bed again. Even though Adam was overcome with emotions of love and attachment to which he’d never felt a rival, the kisses he gave Kris remained light and gentle, though in quick succession. He’d never felt more loved or valued – or particularly loved or valued at all. Kris did it all, and so easily. Kris curled in, melting blissfully into the beautiful world of Adam’s soft, loving lips.

 

Adam got out of bed first, to go fix some breakfast. Kris stayed curled up for a little while under the warm blankets. He laid there with a happy little smile on his face, just thinking and relaxing. Kris remembered falling asleep holding Adam, but waking up for a moment earlier, and finding their positions shifted with Adam holding him instead. They had fit together perfectly. Kris had melted back and relaxed against Adam’s chest, comfy and cherished. Kris knew he was incredibly lucky.

As Kris got up from bed and pulled one of his tunics from the dresser, he heard Adam start to cough out in the tent’s main area. His coughing went on while Kris changed his tunic.

Kris stepped out the door and asked, “You okay?”, concerned. Adam was standing in front of the kitchen shelves and counter. He straightened up and wiped a hand over his mouth.

“You’re here. I’m perfectly fine,” Adam replied with an easy smile, turning back to where he’d been cutting a few slices of bread from the loaf Kris had made a few days earlier. “Want some breakfast?”

“Sure.” Kris went over to look through the cupboards for something to spread on the bread, but couldn’t find anything. “We don’t have much to eat. I should go out to the markets later today and do some food shopping.”

“Sounds good. I’ll give you some money before you go.” Adam handed Kris a plate with some bread on it, and planted a kiss on his cheek.

Kris’ breakfast was bland, but he ate it with a smile.

 

Kris pulled on the heavy traveling robe Adam had bought for him, and called out, “Adam! I’m about to leave!” Kris tied up the front of the robes, as Adam ducked out from his chamber. He handed Kris a small pouch, and when Kris took it, the pouch jingled.

“Get ingredients for your pie,” Adam said with a smile. “You know how much I love your pie. ….And your everything else.”

Kris laughed softly, beaming to himself as he tucked the pouch into an inside pocket of his robes. “Try not to miss me too much.” Kris leaned up on his toes to peck Adam’s lips. “Love you.” Adam smiled, and watched Kris head off.

 

It was well into the afternoon when Kris was finally heading home. His arms were full with bundles and satchels. He’d bought enough food to last for at least the next moon, and he’d only spent about half the money Adam had given him. Kris definitely considered his trip a success.

He hummed to himself as the tent came into room. He was thinking about walking in and finding Adam most likely primping, and Kris imagined sliding into his lap and kissing him right away. He would bake something extra delicious for Adam tonight.

As Kris approached, he soon realized things weren’t as he was expecting. The first cue was Michael’s absence from in front of the door. Kris shouldered his way through the door, his arms still full. Kris heard the sounds right away. There was a crack left open in the curtains, and from the doorway Kris could see Adam’s legs over the man’s shoulders. His hands were gripping Adam’s soft hips, tugging him in sharply each time the man thrust forward. Adam was arched in the cushions, his hands gripping them and his head thrown back into the pillows. Kris wished he could cover his ears against how loud Adam was being. Kris just dropped all the groceries on the table, so he could go back outside right away. He could feel multiple unpleasant feelings swirling through him, but couldn’t quite identify them. They were probably something like disappointment and jealousy.

When Kris got back outside, he saw Michael. He was standing out near the well, and Kris went over to him. Michael frowned when he saw Kris.

“I tried to get him not to. I had to walk away for a while so I wouldn’t hear.”

Kris sat down, leaning back against the well. He sifted his fingers through the sand.

“How angry are you?” Michael asked.

“I’m not,” Kris wasn’t even sure at this point whether or not he was lying. “I knew it wouldn’t be that simple for him. It’s not like he’s just throwing away an old shirt or something.”

Michael walked off again, and Kris kept sitting there. He lost track of the time, but if he had to guess, it was probably about an hour later when Kris saw the man come out through the door. He was young and good-looking, no wonder Adam hadn’t said no. Adam kissed him at the door. They laughed about something together. Then, the guy finally left.

Adam only watched him for a moment, then started scanning the horizon, looking for Kris. Adam saw him sitting beside the well, and wasn’t sure what to do. He was a little frightened of facing Kris just yet. He wasn’t sure what kind of reaction to expect from him. Adam ducked back inside to tidy up his work area. As he leaned down to pick up one of the cushions, he fell into a burst of coughing. It passed after a few moments.

After dallying and worrying long enough, he went back outside and right over to where Kris was still sitting in the same place. Kris had his knees pulled up to his chest, and looked up only when Adam was standing right in front of him.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said softly. He knotted his hands together, and started wringing them together. Kris sat still and silently. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, and Adam was sure it was one of the longest silences he’d ever suffered through in his life.

When Adam’s nervous hand-wringing finally became too much for Kris to bear anymore, he reached up to take Adam’s hands, and pull him down to sit next to him. Once Adam was seated next to him, Kris hugged one of Adam’s arms to his chest, holding onto it.

“I’m not angry,” Kris said softly. “I just … don’t understand.”

Adam looked off into the horizon, not sure what to say, and feeling terrible about everything that made up their current situation.

Kris went on, “I know that it’s what you’ve been doing almost your whole life, and you’re used to it. I just … don’t understand why it’s hard for you to stop when it’s the thing that’s been hurting you. Is it that ….me and my love aren’t enough?”

“No! No, Kris, that’s not it at all. You’re so much more than I ever thought I could have.” Adam gently pulled his arm from Kris’ grip, so he could instead put both of his arms up around Kris’ shoulders, and tug him closer. Kris laid his head on Adam’s shoulder and closed his eyes, waiting for him to go on.

Adam was silent for a long time. He rubbed a hand gently back and forth across Kris’ back. He himself didn’t know exactly why it was that he’d felt unable to say no when he’d seen that man come through his door. Was it just because he’d been handsome? But Kris was twice as beautiful. Was it because he’d had such spotless gold pieces to offer Adam? But Adam already had more gold and jewels stored in the back of his dresser than he knew what to do with. Adam didn’t understand himself, didn’t understand why he was so weak. To say it made him feel terrible would be the very epitome of an understatement.

“I don’t think I know why I did it anymore than you do,” Adam admitted to Kris in a soft whisper. “I saw him, and I guess I gave in right away to my immediate reflex to grab the pretty ones the moment they come through the door, so I can avoid the geezers.” Adam sighed. “They come in, and I find myself with them before I even realize I’ve said yes. After all this time, it seems like I can’t break out of it. I … don’t know what it is that keeps me in its hold. Maybe it’s the money, and I don’t realize it. Maybe it’s … all those years when I was younger, when, day in and day out, my father would make sure it was in my head that my body is all I’m good for. Or maybe it’s just because I can’t go a day without getting fucked,” he muttered the last sentence bitterly, his voice completely self-hating.

Kris frowned, buried his head against Adam’s shoulder, and held on tightly to his arm. He knew he could never really understand what it was like for Adam. All he could do was make sure he was always there for him, always there to comfort him, always there to make him realize how much he was loved.

“What do you think if, um…. we tried? It would be different with us. It could mean more for you, and maybe then you’d be okay with letting your work go.”

Kris was a virgin in every sense of the word. Never had sex, never been kissed, never been loved. Adam was his first everything.

“No, no, no,” Adam said right away and fiercely. Kris pulled away a little, and looked up at Adam. Adam was quick to clarify, “Oh Kris, it’s not because I don’t want to. You’re completely gorgeous. I don’t think I’ve ever laid eyes on anyone I would want to be with more than you. But, with how much you mean to me, … I can’t. I can’t bear thinking of you in the same place as all my nameless customers. I couldn’t connect you to that.” Adam stroked his fingers across Kris’ cheek. “You’re too pure, and too beautiful.”

“Oh, … I guess I understand,” Kris said softly, looking away.

Adam frowned. He could tell Kris only understood partially, and was a little hurt. Adam pulled him close and kissed his forehead.

“I’m sorry this is all so complicated,” Adam murmured. Kris slid his arms around Adam and snuggled in close against him. Adam continued, “You deserve the best man in the whole entire world, who cherishes you and showers you with love and every good thing you could ever want.”

“Lucky for me, I’m already with that man.” Adam laughed, smiled, and kissed Kris’ hair.

“I just pray that man can prove he deserves you.”

 

After dinner, Kris still made Adam a delicious dessert. Adam thanked him for his effort in the form of kisses, and Kris smiled and melted into each one.

Before they went to bed, Adam went over to Kris’ bed and rolled up all the blankets. He put them away in the dresser. They both crawled into Adam’s bed, and slept in opposite positions from the night before. This time, Adam’s back was to Kris’ chest. Adam was bigger, but Kris curled up close around him, and Adam felt warm from his head to his toes.

Kris made sure to whisper to Adam, “I love you,” just before he fell asleep.

 

Around noon the next day, Adam and Kris were curled up together in the cushions in the tent’s main area. Kris was reading from a book spread out over his knees. Adam was listening, with his arms around Kris’ waist and his chin resting on the back of Kris’ shoulder. The book was interesting and all, but every once in a while Adam couldn’t resist placing a kiss on the side of Kris’ neck or on his cheek. When Adam started playing with his hair, Kris just gave up on the book entirely. Kris closed the book and pushed it aside, and let his head fall back against Adam’s chest. Adam laughed a little and smiled. Kris gave his own smile, thrilled to see Adam so carefree and cheerful.

“Here, move so you can put your head down.” Kris shifted around so he could rest his head down in Adam’s lap. Adam sunk his fingers into Kris’ soft brown hair. Kris closed his eyes and relaxed into the pleasant sensations.

“Kris?” Kris made a soft ‘mmm?’ sound. “….What was your mother like?” Kris abruptly opened his eyes. Adam was looking away, his hair falling in front of his face. His fingers stroked idly through Kris’ hair. Kris was quiet for a few seconds, thinking of his answer.

“She sold me when I was young, so I don’t remember too much about her. With all the worrying she had to do about money, she didn’t really pay that much attention to me. She was kind enough but, hardly a doting mother. Obviously not, seeing what she did with me…” Adam stroked his fingertips against Kris’ scalp.

“Maybe that was her way of making sure you were cared for,” Adam said softly, “She knew she couldn’t provide for you, so she wanted you to be with someone who could.”

“Or, I was an expense she could get rid of, and make some money off of on the way.”

Adam frowned. “I’m sorry.” Kris sighed and shrugged his shoulders.

“It doesn’t really matter now.”

Adam watched his fingers sift through Kris’ locks of hair for a while. “I just ask because, sometimes I wonder, … if my mother had wanted me, what she would have been like.”

“Maybe she would have been loving and great.”

“Maybe.” Adam gave a half smile. “What about your father? You never knew him?”

Kris shook his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but right then, Michael came bursting through the door. Kris jumped and sat up.

“Adam – both of you! You need to run, hide, go somewhere!” Michael panted, obviously having sprinted inside. “Soldiers, wearing the royal emblem. They’re coming and you need to go!”

“For us?! Why!” Adam struggled to his feet, pulling Kris up beside him.

“I don’t know, but – ..” Michael’s words were suddenly cut off by the sound of pounding footsteps outside, and a sword slicing jaggedly through the door. Michael backed away quickly from the door, herding Adam and Kris behind him.

Now that there was a gaping hole in the front of the tent, five guards wearing armor and heavily armed stormed inside. They lined up opposite from Michael, Adam, and Kris, blocking any chance of escape. Michael’s eyes narrowed and he slid one hand inside his robes to curl his hand around the hilt of his sword. Behind Michael, Adam tugged Kris close.

The two guards standing in the center parted to make room between them, and a woman walked through. She wore earrings of gold, and a traveling robe made of such fine fabric that it seemed she should charge people simply to look upon it. Her dark hair was twisted up tightly onto the top of her head. Her eyes immediately looked over Michael’s shoulder, fixing Adam with a cold, hateful glare.

Adam couldn’t realize it, but it was the same woman who had stood outside the door and heard the sounds of him giving himself to Lord Merrick.

The woman turned towards an older man who followed her inside. Adam immediately recognized this one.

“That’s Merrick!” Adam hissed to Michael.

The woman nodded towards Adam, and then looked to Merrick. “Is that him?”

Merrick nodded, and pointed to Adam for good measure. “That’s him. He’s the one who seduced me.”

“What?” Adam questioned, incensed.

If possible, the woman turned an even colder look towards Adam. She said to the guards, “Seize him,” and they started moving forward immediately.

Michael sprang into action, drawing his sword in the blink of an eye and slashing it at the first guard who reached around him for Adam. Adam backed away, pulling Kris with him. Michael fought them off ruthlessly, but once three of them started on him at the same time, they were able to knock the blade from his hand. Michael was pushed out of the way. As they closed in, Kris threw himself in front of Adam. “No! Don’t touch him!” he yelled, clawing at one of the guard’s faces before he was towed away. Adam didn’t run or struggle away, just stood still and allowed two guards to take hold of his arms and hold him in place. One of the guards kept Kris held back, and it took everything in the remaining two guards to keep Michael restrained.

The woman stepped up to Adam, and he didn’t give her the pleasure of trying to resist the guards’ hold on him.

“So you’re the whore,” she sneered. Adam made no response, except to keep his eyes locked straight on hers – defiant, unafraid, and every bit confident. “Not much can be expected from your sort, but one would think you’d at least have the sense to know the places to keep your filthy little dick out of.” Looking at Adam, it was like she hadn’t said a word.

“Allow me to introduce myself to you,” her voice turned sweet and patronizing. “I am the Lady Merrick. It was my husband you conned and tricked out of all that money with your dirty ways of temptation. But you see, it wasn’t precisely his money. It was mine. My husband is wealthy thanks to me, as I am sister to the Pharaoh.” Adam knew immediately that this was no hole he could easily dig himself out of. “My husband is a good, faithful man. But I bet it isn’t even a new low for someone like you – seducing a virtuous man of high standing for his money.”

Adam finally opened his mouth. “You must be joking,” he said, incredulous. “Let me tell you, my Lady, you don’t know your husband nearly as well as you believe you do.”

“Tch.” Lady Merrick’s eyes were like knives boring into Adam. She put all her anger into it, but she didn’t possess quite the mastery Adam did. She turned to face an older, stout man who’d just made his way inside the tent. “Inspect him!” she barked at the man, and he practically tripped over himself to get over to her. Addressing Adam again, she introduced the new arrival, “This is the slave keeper of the royal palace. He’s to determine whether you can be put to work in the Pharaoh’s harem. It’s no cause for concern if you don’t mean the standards, another suitable punishment can be found.”

Adam had heard plenty about the slaves coerced into the royal harem. While the current Pharaoh never took any interest in them, they remained prisoners in the palace. And if the Pharaoh made no personal use of them, they were tossed to palace guests and foreign ambassadors, who were allowed whatever they like with them. Adam would sooner die than be sentenced to such a life. Here, he controlled his own work and customers, and was paid well. Royal harem boys and girls received nothing, and had nothing.

Adam’s thoughts were interrupted when the slave keeper pressed in close to him, examining him.

“An exquisitely beautiful face, indeed….” he mused with a leering grin. “Except for this little bruise of course.” He stroked Adam’s cheek before poking the bruised skin beneath his eye none too gently. Instead of wincing or showing any signs of pain, Adam jerked his face away fluidly from the man’s touch. He fixed the man with a defiant glare hot enough to singe through him. “He’s got fire in him,” the man said and laughed lightly, but he’d already lost his overbearing confidence under the painful work of Adam’s eyes.

“And what of his form?” Lady Merrick questioned, sounding impatient already.

“Yes, yes, give me a moment…” Adam could see the man’s nervousness despite how much he was trying to hide it. The slave keeper reached out to undo the ties of Adam’s robes. Adam didn’t move, or look away an inch from the man as his robes fell open. “Mmmm, very nice. .... Fit, yet not too slender…” The man felt the muscles and skin of Adam’s chest with his hand.

Meanwhile, the guard watching Kris had to get a better hold on him. “Get your hands off him!” Kris shouted, struggling with everything in him to get away. Smiling wickedly, the slave keeper dropped his hand towards Adam’s exposed cock, and wrapped his hand around it. Kris seethed. “You have no right to touch him like that, you sick, perverted freak!”

Lady Merrick silenced Kris with biting words, “He’s a whore, anyone has the right to touch him. Not to mention, he’s our whore now.”

Adam eyes looked literally ablaze. “I belong to no one,” he said with conviction that none could test. The slave keeper quickly did up Adam’s robes again, and then moved away from him. “Drag me to the palace if you like,” Adam hissed, “but you’ll never, no matter what you try, make me do a single thing I don’t choose to.”

“I told you you couldn’t control him.” The voice was new. One last man made his way inside the tent, behind the others. “And that’s why I offered you my advice.”

“Dallon,” Kris gasped to himself softly, his face going white when he saw his old master standing right before him.

Dallon continued, “You can threaten him, beat him, lock him up somewhere, but he will never bend to your will.” Dallon’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Adam. “Trust me, I know all about Adam’s self-created superiority.” His eyes slid over towards Kris. Dallon grinned menacingly, and Kris could do nothing to hide how frightened he was. Dallon continued “I was visiting the palace a few days ago, and overheard some conversation regarding a certain Adam Lambert, and couldn’t help but listen in. I heard of his subterfuge against Lord Merrick, and the Lady’s intention of throwing him into the royal harem for retribution. I warned her immediately, she’d never succeed.”

“Dallon, quit the pretty talking and get on with it,” Lady Merrick said sharply, unamused by his banter. Dallon ignored her.

“I told her that no matter what she does, Adam will never break, and he’ll never succumb to a slave position in the palace. I let her in on a little secret. There’s only one way under his iron skin. There’s one way to control him, completely and absolutely.”

Dallon looked back to Kris, and both Adam and Kris suddenly froze. Dallon drew a knife from inside his robes, and started advancing on Kris. Michael got a new bout of strength in his fight against the guards who were restraining him, and Adam, for the first time, struggled against his own.

Then quick as a flash, Dallon had replaced the guard who had been holding onto Kris. Dallon stood directly behind Kris, one hand clasped tightly around his arm, and the other holding the knife to the soft skin of his throat. Kris fell deathly still as Adam struggled against the guards restraining him, fury now on his face.

“I would stop that if I were you,” Lady Merrick told him sharply. On cue, Dallon pressed the knife more to Kris’ skin. Adam stilled, but his panicked eyes didn’t move from the blade.

“Pathetic, isn’t it?” Dallon drawled as Kris tried to turn his head away. “The proud, shameless whore has got it bad for the worthless little slave boy,” Dallon taunted, right against Kris’ ear. “Lucky for Lady Merrick, I have my own personal grudge against Adam Lambert and his slave boy lover, and was willing to tell her all I know about them.”

“And the one way to get him to cooperate,” she finished for him. She turned to face Adam, a triumphant smirk on her face. “So. We’re going to take you back with us to the palace. You’re going to be the newest addition to the Pharaoh’s harem, and remain there for the rest of your miserable life. Or, if you so choose, you can stay here with your boy. But, his head won’t exactly be connected to his body anymore.” Kris gasped as the knife dug into his skin.

But still, Kris called out, “Adam don’t listen! Don’t give yourself to them!”

“Shut up!” Dallon hissed, and sliced a thin line into Kris’ skin. Adam couldn’t see anything except the thin line of blood across Kris’ neck. Suddenly, no decision had ever been easier.

“Fine! Take me, just let him go!” Almost instantly, Dallon released Kris, and the boy tumbled to the floor. Shackles were locked around Adam’s wrists.

“I hope you’re well rested. It’s a long march to the palace,” Lady Merrick said with a smirk.

Adam countered immediately, “I wouldn’t be so snide if I were you. Keeping me in the palace won’t stop your husband from wanting me. You’ve been too busy talking down to me to realize his eyes haven’t left me once.” She whirled around to face her husband, but by now he was looking elsewhere. She fixed Adam with one more glare before turning on her hell and going outside, followed by Merrick.

As soon as he was back on his feet, Kris ran over to Adam and clung to him. “Don’t do this, please don’t do this. You’re going to have to spend the rest of your life there.”

“There’s nothing to do about it now, Kris.”

Tears welled up in Kris’ eyes. “What am I supposed to do here without you? How can I know you’re alright?”

“All they’ll do is find me people I haven’t fucked yet. There are worse things. Oh Kris, it’s certainly nothing to cry over.” Tears had spilled out over Kris’ cheeks. Adam wanted to cup Kris’ face, to wipe his tears away, but the shackles kept him from touching Kris at all.

“But what if they hurt you? I love you, how am I going to go on never seeing you, never knowing whether you’re alive or-or…dead?”

“You don’t have to worry. Knowing you love me, … I can pull through anything. That’s how I know I’ll be alright.”

Before he could start crying in earnest, Kris kissed Adam. Kris wanted to make that kiss last longer than all their others, but he couldn’t – as one of the guards took hold of Adam’s arm and wrenched him away. Adam tried to keep his eyes glued to Kris as long as possible - one last moment to memorize every single one of his features. His brown hair, his gentle eyes, his button nose, his perfect lips... every little thing Adam loved so.

“You bastards will pay for what you’re doing!” Michael barked, “Adam didn’t do any of what you think! You’ll realize it and you’ll be the ones punished!”

Kris and Michael could do nothing. They stood in the remnants of what used to be the doorway, watching Merrick, his wife, and Dallon disappear on horseback. The slave keeper and the guards walked, with Adam close beside them and the shackles around his wrists taut.

“It’s all my fault,” Kris murmured softly, tears falling again. Michael put one big arm around Kris’ small frame. There was nothing he could say.

 

For Adam, the next few days were nothing short of drudgery and torture. All they did was walk, and walk, and walk, and walk, with minimal food provisions or rest. By the time they finally – at long last – reached the palace, Adam was too weak and tired even to take in the building’s splendor and beauty. All he saw was the floor ahead of him, the next tile before his foot came down on it.

He was led into the main, huge room of the palace that doubled as the reception hall and throne room. Dallon and Lord Merrick were already there. Lady Merrick was speaking in a low voice to her brother the Pharaoh, who was reclined in his throne with his attention absorbed by a scroll he had unrolled in his hands. His clothes were embossed in even more gold than his sister’s. When he lowered the scroll from in front of his face to take a look at the man who had caused Lady Merrick such trouble, his face was revealed to be young and handsome. The Pharaoh wore only a sheath that covered from his midsection down, and golden bands around his forearms. He went bare-chested, showing the strength and smooth muscles he had acquired in his time as a soldier. His long, black hair was held back by the red and white headdress atop his head, showing his sovereignty over all of Egypt. His features were chiseled and sharp, his face clean-shaven and his eyes a clear green.

“This is the man whose been causing my family to run around in a ruckus?”

Adam had already been pushed to his knees in front of the Pharaoh, and it wasn’t until now that he lifted his head to look at him. But Adam lacked the strength to do anything but just watch him blankly.

“When he’s well rested and his usual self, he’s sure to enthrall all our guests,” Lady Merrick remarked with a smirk. Adam’s face showed no change or emotion. The Pharaoh was unsettled watching him.

“Well, see that he’s taken care of,” the Pharaoh said. “Put him in one of the allotted rooms, and make sure he has a meal right away,” he instructed the guard who still had a grip on Adam’s arm. The guard nodded, and pulled Adam to his feet despite how Adam stumbled. As the guard led him out of the huge throne room, Adam had to muster every bit of strength he could find just to stay standing. He covered his mouth with his hands as he suddenly broke into a ghastly, violent coughing fit that shook his entire body. The coughing didn’t stop until the guard had brought him to the door of a bedroom in the wing of the palace devoted to the royal harem.

Behind the door, the room was spacious and luxurious, with a large bed, the walls adorned with mosaics of gods and goddesses, and another doorway that led to a small washroom. The only thing Adam wanted to look at was that beautiful, cushy bed. As soon as the guard released his arm, Adam stumbled over and fell face-first into it. He was sure he’d be content never to move from there for the rest of his life. The guard closed the door and left Adam alone in his room.

Adam had never fallen asleep more quickly, or slept more soundly. The march to the palace had been an incredibly long, multiple-day haul. The sun had been unforgiving, and there had hardly been any breaks. Somehow the guards had made it through without reaching the palace as weakened as Adam, but Adam was at a loss for how they’d done it, besides their physical shape and fitness. Adam coughed softly in his sleep, while he dreamt of torturous, never ending sand dunes.

Several hours later, there was a soft knock at Adam’s door. Adam didn’t stir. The door opened quietly, and a young servant girl carrying a tray of food tentatively poked her head in. She let herself into the room, and carried the tray over to the bedside table. Then, she gently shook Adam’s shoulder with a whispered exclamation of, “Mister Lambert!” to rouse him. It took her several tries, but eventually Adam began to wake up with a grumble, and roll over onto his back on the bed.

“I’m sorry to wake you,” she said to him gently, “But I brought your midday meal, and you’re to eat as soon as possible.”

Adam stretched, and sat up in bed with a yawn. After blinking his unfocused eyes a few times at the tray, he finally reached over and lifted it over onto his lap. He realized suddenly how hungry he was, and dug in to the food immediately. He was hungry, but the bit of sleep already had him feeling much better. He noticed gratefully that his cough had abated.

“Also,” the servant girl said, “I was instructed to tell you that you’re expected in the atrium.”

“For what?” Adam asked between bites of the delicious food.

“Proprietal training, with the slave keeper.”

The food-filled fork Adam had been lifting to his mouth froze in mid-air. “Proprietal training?” he echoed, his face looking a cross between enraged and trying to hold back laughter. “Please. I’ve learned more class working as a courtesan than any of the scum in this palace has ever had.”

“Well, please keep in mind that no matter whether you require the training or not, you’ll be punished if you do not attend.” Adam sighed as he speared another bite of food with his fork.

“Yes, I see that I have no control over any aspect of my life within these walls. I may as well become accustomed to it.”

The girl silently gathered the dishes Adam had already finished with.

Before she turned to leave, she said in an understanding, knowing voice, “It seems like that at first. But after a while, you learn how to live your life differently here. Learn other ways that you can be happy, without offending any of the royal family. Things are different, but they don’t always have to be worse.”

Adam said nothing, and the girl left. Adam just sat still in the bed for a while. He had no idea what to expect of life within the royal palace, but he knew enough to expect hardship. He had unintentionally slandered the name of the Pharaoh’s sister, and she would do everything in her power to torture Adam as best she could in retribution. Then there was Lord Dallon – the jilted suitor, and Kris’ former master. Dallon had every reason to be vengeful. While he didn’t have the same power as the Lady Merrick, his position did give him frequent audiences in the palace, as well as his own force of guards.

Adam knew the two would be at his back constantly. They were the worst enemies to have.

Adam figured, as much as he would love to sleep for another day or two, there was no sense in starting off his new life on a bad foot. He had to go to this damned, useless Propriety whatever it was. He climbed out of the bed with a groan and after a brief hunt for fresh clothes, pulled on clean robes he found in a cupboard in the corner of the room.

Thanks to force of habit, he examined himself briefly in the mirror. His face was flushed, hair disheveled past the point of salvation, but for once, he really could not care less. He left the room without a second glance to his appearance.

 

Kris and Michael didn’t know quite what to do without Adam around. Michael fielded off Adam’s customers. Kris spent most of his time just lying in Adam’s bed, taking in what was left of his scent in the blankets, and remembering what it felt like to lie in this same bed with Adam’s arms around him. Kris missed him so. And if that wasn’t already painful enough, he couldn’t rid himself of the thought that this was all his own fault. Adam wouldn’t have been forced into this unjust and unwarranted punishment if Kris hadn’t been his Achilles Heel. And Kris hadn’t ever wanted anything more than to try his best to help Adam out of the life that had caused him so much pain. Instead, Kris had been the catalyst for Adam’s delivery into an even worse lifestyle. Adam was now at the disposal of those in the palace. But as much as he blamed himself, Kris couldn’t bring himself to ever wish that he and Adam had never met. Adam meant too much to him. He’d changed Kris’ life too completely. In the months since Kris had risked his life and ran away from Lord Dallon’s household, Adam had always been there to take care of him. Without Adam there, Kris felt lost.

The tent was almost always silent. Michael would come inside when Kris had finished preparing meals, but they would more often than not, sit together in silence. It seemed like Adam’s absence was a physical thing in the room with them. They would exchange some friendly banter here and there, but they just didn’t have the will for much conversation. Adam had always been the one who talked the most.

As the days, then weeks, passed, word had spread that Adam Lambert was out of business. No one visited the tent anymore. Kris wasn’t sure whether he was glad for that or not. On one hand, Kris was thankful that Adam’s hopefuls weren’t nosing around anymore, and on the other hand, things were quieter than they’d ever been.

Midday through another uneventful day, Michael ducked inside carrying the water basin, after he had filled it with water from the well.

“Kris, here’s the water for your cooking.”

“Thanks,” Kris said from where he was sitting at the table, chopping up vegetables. Michael set the basin down on the table, and then sat down in the chair across from Kris.

“Kris,” Michael said with a sigh, “We’ve got to do something. We’re just wasting away here, not doing anything.”

Kris’ hands stilled, and he sighed. “What can we do, though?” he asked softly.

“We have to find some way to help Adam, break him out of there if we can. Listen, with all of Adam’s old customers gone and no one to chase off, I’ve been spending a lot of time in town. There’s always lots of talk about the palace and what’s going on there. I’ve heard that there are always banquets being held, and there’s a single banquet held on the final night of each moon cycle, that’s open to everyone. One needs only to show up in fancy enough dress, and gets in.”

“Do you think if one of us tried to get in to one of these, we would have a chance of getting Adam out?”

“I’m not sure about that. I imagine there would be a lot of attention on him, and it’ll be noticed if we try to get near him. For all we know, the Pharaoh’s sister could be sitting right there keeping surveillance herself the whole time.”

Kris set the knife down that he’d been chopping carrots with, and sat down in the chair, resting his chin on his hand. “Well even if we can’t get near Adam, we can see what they’ve got him doing, and we could seek out any future opportunities to get him out.”

Michael nodded. “Trying is better than sitting around here doing shit.”

Kris went back to chopping the carrots, just for something to occupy his hands so he wouldn’t start getting too excited or scared of his and Michael’s tentative plan. “Lady Merrick knows what both of us look like, and chances are she’ll be there at the banquet. It would be too conspicuous of both of us went. But if one of us goes, who should it be?”

“As much as I would love to get in there myself, I think it should be you. I would stand out right away, with my size. If you get some robes with a hood to cover up your face a bit, you would blend right in.”

“That’s true,” Kris mused aloud, thinking the plan over. The whole thing was downright terrifying to him, but if it would bring them any closer to saving Adam, Kris would do it.

“Okay,” Kris stated emphatically, plunking the knife down onto the table with aplomb. “The last day of the moon cycle is only five days away. I’ll go to the markets to get robes to wear, and I’ll need a camel or horse to get to the palace in time.”

“Do you know where Adam kept all the money and jewels he’s collected? I’m sure he wouldn’t mind you digging into them a little.”

“They’re in that chest in the back of his dresser, right?” Michael nodded. Kris took a deep breath to steady himself.

He was going to do this.

 

Adam made his way back to his room late at night, when the final, drunken revelers had at last left the grand hall. Adam had to lift a hand a feel his way down the hallway, he was so incredibly exhausted. He’d wrestled with too many sets of lips to possibly count, and had far too many bedmates.

Just before he finally pushed the door of his room open, he heard a voice from down the hallway, “Gotten your fill for the evening, Lambert?”

Even before the figure became visible out of the shadows, Adam closed his eyes and collapsed against the doorway to his room with a done in sigh.

“This isn’t the night, Abbas.”

“You always say it ‘isn’t the night',” the man leered as he encroached on the area where Adam was standing. Abbas wore armor, with a knife sheathed at his hip. He was one of the guards stationed in the royal harem quarters. Adam knew from far too much personal experience that Abbas cared nothing for his job. The same for Fadir, the second guard stationed at the same post. Adam expected it would only be a matter of moments before the second man made his appearance.

Abbas fisted a hand in Adam’s hair. Adam only winced the slightest bit. He was too tired to fight back, or even to react.

“You’re extra done-up. You had a lot of takers tonight, didn’t you?” Abbas sneered in Adam’s face. “I bet you’re all stretched and wet and ready.”

Adam heard footsteps from behind him, and then the laugh of someone standing just behind him.

“Don’t waste time, Abbas. Someone will see,” Fadir chided in a hushed voice. Abbas just gave a shrug of his shoulders. But he kicked open the door to Adam’s room, and pushed him inside. While Abbas locked the door, Fadir dragged Adam over to the bed. A rough shove to his back, and Adam tumbled onto the bed.

“Look,” Fadir noted in a voice filled with contempt. “He’s too tired to hardly even move.”

“Good,” Abbas said with a smirk. “For once, he won’t fight back.”

 

An hour later, and Adam never wanted to move again. Everything hurt, and it felt as if every single one of his muscles and joints were tired and weak. At least he was finally alone, and he knew that he wouldn’t be disturbed for the rest of the night.

It was several minutes before he could make himself sit up in bed, and reach for the robes that had been ripped from his body. He stood up slowly and shakily, pulling his robes on and tying them again. He then reached into the inside pocket. He hadn’t been quite as exhausted as Abbas and Fadir had thought. When the two men hadn’t been paying attention, Adam had slid the knife out from one of the sheaths on their clothing, and hidden it under his own discarded clothes. He didn’t know how much good it would do him in the future, but it was a better weapon than his fists.

He sat down in front of the mirror in his room. He looked hard at his own reflection. The bruise on his cheek that he’d gotten back at home from the man who wouldn’t take no as an answer, had faded long ago. While some of it was smudged, the makeup that had been carefully dabbed onto his face by servants earlier still made him look stunning. Dark lines of kohl rimmed his eyes perfectly. But Adam didn’t see the makeup anymore. He saw himself – the most wretched and despondent he had ever been. But Adam wouldn’t allow himself anywhere near tears. The monsters within the palace didn’t deserve that.

Adam dropped a washcloth into the wash basin on the tabletop before him, and then began wiping all the makeup away. And as he did, the bags under his eyes came into view, the permanent frown of his mouth, the melancholy in his features. He wondered what Kris had seen, what Kris had fallen in love with.

Kris.

What would he think if he saw Adam now? Adam unlocked the memories from just before he’d been taken to the palace, and allowed himself the short comfort of thinking on them. He tried to keep memories of Kris stored away, so they wouldn’t be tainted by this awful place Adam was imprisoned. Adam only took them out when he was sure he was alone – when no one could steal Kris from him.

Adam wrapped his arms around himself, imagining they were Kris’. He thought of what Kris’ lips felt like, of the way Adam had always been flooded with pure, indescribable joy when Kris told him he loved him. If Adam could only see him again, see his radiant smile and the way it lit up his whole face, Adam was sure he’d be alright, through whatever anyone threw at him.

 

The best part of the next day was the fact that Adam didn’t have to work. There was, thankfully, no banquet tonight where Adam had to entertain. Aside from going to the kitchens for his midday meal, Adam didn’t leave his room. He appreciated the time alone, the rare moments when he didn’t have to worry about pleasing anyone other than himself.

An ambassador from some foreign country, who had attended a banquet a few nights ago and taken up Adam’s company, had given him a necklace made of some curious kind of stones. Adam had never seen them before. Adam was sitting in front of the mirror examining them when there was a knock at his door. Adam’s eyebrows creased. The slave keeper wouldn’t knock. Abbas and Fadir weren’t on duty outside his room until after nightfall.

Before Adam had the chance to get up and open the door, the person who had knocked let themselves in. Adam froze in place when he saw the Lord Merrick slip inside. Merrick closed the door softly behind himself. Then he turned towards Adam, and smiled. Adam’s fists clenched painfully.

“Are you enjoying life in the palace? It’s splendid, is it not?”

Adam’s only response at first was a cold glare. Finally, he hissed emphatically, “How dare you come in here. How dare you even believe you have the right to speak to me.”

Merrick looked shocked, and then his expression changed to a frown. “Don’t be angry at me, please. I had no choice.”

“No choice but to throw me to the wolves when your wife found out you’d fucked me? Telling her I was some seductress, so you could get away with adultery? When you were the one who propositioned me?! But I suppose when your wife is the Pharaoh’s sister, some whore doesn’t much matter, am I right? Oh, and let me answer your previous question. No, life in the palace is not splendid. I don’t much enjoy having to sleep with at least five men almost each night, and then returning to my room and being brutalized by the so-called ‘guards’ stationed outside.”

Merrick was shocked into silence for a few seconds. “It can’t be much worse here than it used to be for you.”

“I lived a downright good life before, you selfish ingrate. I worked on my own terms, instead of being owned.”

“Things will get better for you, I’m sure,” Merrick said, walking into the room a little bit. “With your beauty, you could charm the Pharaoh himself.”

“Oh, spare me,” Adam barked, and then spit on the floor before Merrick’s feet. “Don’t you dare even try.”

Merrick did his best to ignore the stickiness on the floor that Adam had just spit at him. “I don’t think you realize, darling. I think that weekend I spent with you may have been the best of my life.”

Merrick reached towards where Adam was sitting, placed his hands on Adam’s waist, and pulled him up onto his feet. As soon as Merrick started pulling him in, Adam swung his arm and backhanded the man as hard as he could across the face. Merrick let go, and stumbled backwards a few steps.

“You better not even think about putting your filthy, lying hands anywhere near me.”

“Adam, you know your place here in the palace. I’m one of the royal family, whom you’re to obey fully.”

“Oh, is that so?” Adam grabbed for the sheathed knife on the table beside him, and quickly drew the blade out. “And I think you know your place against a vengeful man holding a knife.” Adam pointed the blade at Merrick, and Merrick took a few steps backwards slowly, his frightened eyes trained on the blade. Adam felt satisfaction when he saw a red, inflamed mark already making its way across Merrick’s face from where Adam had hit him.

“Get the hell out of my room, and don’t you ever even entertain the thought of coming anywhere near me again. Oh, and tell anyone of this encounter, and I’ll finally have enough reasons to genuinely want to kill you. Don’t think that I won’t.”

Merrick finally looked intimidated. Adam thrust the blade towards him in the air a little, just to send him scurrying out of the room.

Adam knew there would be repercussions somewhere down the road for what he had just done. But that didn’t stop him from curling up in bed, feeling very pleased with himself.

 

Of course, having a whole day off with no work was too good to be true. A servant dropped in Adam’s room, to tell him he was to be called on that evening to entertain a guest of Lady’s Merrick’s. As angry as he was to hear it, he knew he should have expected her to find something (or someone) for him to do today.

Adam called in the servants that helped with his appearance. He sat down, and one girl started with his hair, and another his complexion. His hair was brushed out to perfection, and a gold circlet fitted over his head to keep his long hair out of his face. He stepped behind the curtain in his room to slip on the work clothes Lady Merrick had given him specially. Of course, they were thinner and considerably smaller than what the other harem boys wore. It was only a thin sheath skirt that fit snugly around his waist. The skintight material only extended about three-quarters of the way down his thighs. The only good thing he had to say about the ridiculous garb was that its tightness kept anything underneath from being seen.

When Adam went back to sit in the chair, the servant girl who always took care of his makeup began painting intricate designs around the corners of his eyes in kohl. Foundations had already been dabbed on. She painted color onto his lips. Then, she shifted down to Adam’s bare chest, and began painting on hennas to match and complement the kohl around his eyes. She had the ability to make about a half-hour’s worth of work look like it had taken all day. When she finished, Adam thanked her before she left.

Now came the gritty part. Adam knew it was more than likely that Lady Merrick’s ‘guest’ would be interested in using him. Adam had learned quickly that in the palace, people were even more self-centered and quick about sex than his customers at home had been. No one here ever checked twice to see if he was alright, or prepared. It was no surprise – no one here was paying him. So to save himself a whole lot of torture, Adam had made it a habit to stretch himself before he went out to entertain. Once he’d figured out to start doing that, everything got a little less bad. But only a little.

When Adam was finally all ready and hadn’t been summoned to the grand hall yet, he sat down in front of the mirror to make sure everything about his appearance was perfect. He had once opted to leave off his heavy gold necklace for the night, and the slave keeper had had him lashed for ‘dissenting’. Of course, he’d had to work the next day as usual. Injuries across his back hadn’t deterred anyone. They only focused on what was below.

He covered his mouth as a sudden cough came on. He couldn’t ignore any more how the coughing was becoming a regular thing.

Adam’s door suddenly flew open with a bang. Adam whirled around in the chair. Lady Merrick was standing in the doorway, looking furious. She flew over towards him like a hurricane. Her hand gripped the back of Adam’s hair, and shoved his head down against the table. Adam gasped in surprise, and white-knuckled the edge of the table so he wouldn’t let out a single noise of pain.

“Why does my husband have a red mark across his face?!” she hissed near Adam’s ear.

His voice muffled by the table, Adam bit back, “Because your husband is a lying, selfish, egregious scum who deserved it.”

She hurled Adam’s head back by his hair, sending his chair toppling and Adam falling against the hard marble floor. “You know what I think?!” she screeched furiously, “I think you attacked him because he told me the truth about you! You wanted him to cover up for your crimes, but he would do no such thing!”

Adam wiped a bit of blood off his lip, from where his teeth had hit the inside of his lip when he’d fallen. He moved to sit up, glaring fire at the woman. He looked to the sheathed knife sitting up on the table. Before he could make any attempt to grab it, Lady Merrick grabbed Adam’s shoulder, digging her long nails into his skin.

“Now you listen to me, you dirty whore, and listen well. You better not ever come near my husband again.”

“I don’t plan on it,” Adam jeered.

She continued like he hadn’t said anything, “You may still want to seduce more out of him, but he doesn’t want anything to do with you. And tonight, I have a special guest who you’re going to make sure to please. I’ve already told him to keep you as long as he pleases, even if its all night. There’s no one else for you to work for tonight, so be glad I gave you something to fill your time.”

“How will I ever express my gratitude.”

Blood welled up on Adam’s skin where the woman’s nails dug in. She hissed right in his face, “I would hit you right this second if your face wasn’t the only thing of worth you’ve got.”

Adam said nothing, just glared. Lady Merrick gave him a shove in the direction of the door. “Get up off the ground, and go out to meet my guest.”

Adam got to his feet, and took his time smoothing his hair. When she looked about to advance on him again, Adam quickly said, “Ah! I have to look my best for your esteemed guest, don’t I?”

“Get. Out. There. Now.”

Adam made sure to adjust the sheath skirt around his waist before he finally made his way from his room and to the receiving hall.

Lady Merrick’s ‘guest’ was a man old, fat, and ugly. Adam had a hunch that she’d probably just snatched the first unfortunate-looking man she’d seen from the petitioners who had lined up that day for an audience with the Pharaoh.

“Good evening, sir,” Adam toned through clenched teeth. It was going to be a long, unpleasant night.

 

It was finally the last night of the moon cycle. Kris had ridden far on horseback, and the palace finally began to come into view. Fear and nervousness made his throat tighten as more and more of the palace’s unbelievable splendor came into view. But he was resolute. Adam was in there somewhere.

As Kris approached the huge, sprawling front gates, he made sure the long, brown robes he’d bought were closed tight, and the hood up. He was riding a horse he had rented, and had bought the horse a saddle inlaid with jewels. His hope was that the guards watching the entrance would take the jeweled saddle as a sufficient sign of wealth, and Kris wouldn’t have to show his face.

There was a line of people waiting to go inside. Men and women dressed in robes and gowns of shimmering, expensive fabric. Kris tried his best to just blend in.

Kris held his breath as his horse finally trotted past the guards watching the entrance. They spared him only a glance, and then he was inside the palace without a struggle.

Past the front gates, Kris found himself in a courtyard. All of the guests who’d just passed through the gates were handing off their traveling robes and horses’ reigns to servants. Kris dismounted his horse as a servant came up beside him.

“May I take your horse to our stables, sir? Your horse will be brought back out whenever you wish to leave.”

Kris hesitated, thinking he might have to leave suddenly if he was recognized.

“I won’t be staying long at all. Do you think it would be alright if my horse just stays here in the courtyard? He won’t cause you any trouble.”

“Um, yes I think that will be fine. I’ll have someone look after him here.”

“Thank you,” Kris said with a smile.

Now came the challenging part. Kris had to go into the grand hall, sit at the banquet table, and wait for Adam to make an appearance. Kris slipped into the crowd of people moving inside the palace. He made sure his hood was up as he moved into the grand hall. His long cloak got a few strange looks, but Kris hurried onward and fortunately, no one tried to speak to him.

The first thing he saw in the grand hall was the dais on the opposite side of the huge room. There were four thrones. In the throne at the middle of the dais and raised highest, sat a man who was unmistakably the Pharaoh. The huge crown on his head was visible even from so far away. On the right side of the Pharaoh’s throne were three smaller thrones, each with young women perched in them. Kris’ guess was that they were probably the Pharaoh’s wives. And on the left side of the Pharaoh’s throne, - Kris swallowed hard when he saw her – sat Lady Merrick. Kris took a seat at the table’s end farthest away from the royal family.

Kris stared down at his hands for a long time, as nothing else happened but trays upon trays of mouth-watering food being carried out by servants and placed on the huge table. Kris took only the smallest amount of food for his own plate. His stomach was churning far too much for him to be able to eat much, but again – he couldn’t attract attention. Who would come to a banquet for any reason but to eat?

As Kris slowly chewed a few bites of food, commotion began at the other end of the table. Beautiful young women, all dressed in form-fitting white dresses had come into the room. Several picked up instruments, and as one began to pluck a song from a harp, one began to sing. All attention was fixed on them. And when the remaining women began to dance, Kris figured out that they were harem girls. Kris finally started to get excited like all the other men around him, but for a very different reason.

After the women entertained for a while – singing, dancing – a stout, smaller man stepped up onto the dais. He introduced himself to all as the royal slave keeper.

“I know my girls were more than lovely,” he said in a loud voice that echoed throughout the huge, cavernous room. He was met with wolf whistles, and he smirked slightly. “But you folks haven’t even met my star yet!”

Kris was practically thrumming with nerves. Through the anxiety and nervousness of being recognized, excitement was boiling through about seeing Adam again.

Kris heard the men sitting next to him murmuring to each other, “I’ve heard this guy they have is a real delicacy.”

“I’ve heard he’s hard to tame – like a vixen. But he can suck dick like no other.”

The men laughed amongst themselves, and Kris just drew his hood up higher so his fuming wouldn’t draw attention. He made sure not to pay any more attention to the conversation around him, and focus on the slave keeper and what he was saying.

“I bet some of you have been waiting to meet him. It’s now my honored pleasure, to present to you all, the most bountiful course of our meal.” With his final words ringing throughout the room, he stepped down from the dais with a smirk. Kris craned his head, desperate to see Adam as soon as he appeared. There was no sign of him for a few moments, and Kris grew more antsy by the second.

Adam did not appear on the dais. First, the women in white took up their instruments again and began playing a song much different than their tune earlier. This one had sharp drum rhythms, and strings plucked rapidly. This was a song for dancing, but not the same slow, graceful dances the women had done.

Walking into the room from behind the women, Adam finally entered. Kris was barely able to stop himself from jumping to his feet as soon as he recognized him. Kris gripped the table, his eyes glued to Adam like he would never look anywhere else ever again.

Adam sauntered his way across the dais. His hair was brushed back, and held there by a gold, jeweled diadem upon his brow. His face was painted with foundations and thick kohl lining his eyes, and heavy necklaces of countless precious metals swung against his bare chest. He descended from the dais, and just a moment later, stepped onto an empty chair, and then stepped up effortlessly to the table.

A wide, proud smirk was on his mouth. Kris could tell it masked his whole face – made him seem emotionless. Adam stared down at every person who whistled or cat-called him. His feet were bare, and his toenails painted black.

The quick-beated, raunchy music was still being played. Adam began to let the music govern his movements. He started slinking his way down the immensely long table, hips swinging almost obscenely. His feet moved gracefully, stepping over goblets and dancing around plates. He would occasionally pause beside someone sitting at the table, and give them a few extra moments to look. He’d give an extra pretty smile, a few circles of his hips, - and rarely – a tug at the tight bottom hem of his short sheath to give someone a glimpse of what was underneath.

Adam made his way about halfway down the table, before he stopped. He turned towards a large man sitting at the table, who was shooting Adam a leering grin. Adam stepped over to stand before where the man was sitting. Adam smoothly descended onto his knees. The man in front of him was looking more arrogant and eager by the second. Adam leaned forward slowly, his hands coming down to rest on the edge of the table. It looked as if their mouths were about to touch, then Adam began sliding away. He shifted from his knees to sit on the edge of the table, one leg hanging off. Adam leaned towards the young, pretty man sitting on the crude one’s right. The younger man inched forward little by little, not overconfident like the man he was sitting next to. Adam teased him, moving and leaning in only little by little. When their mouths finally did meet, Adam only covered the man’s lightly. Adam pulled back, fluttered his eyelashes at the man, and then fisted a hand in the front of his robes. Adam kissed him again, this time hard and vicious. The man’s mouth was clearly hanging open – Adam’s tongue controlling him. Under the work of Adam’s learned lips, Adam began bending the man back against the table, with Adam hovering over him, still working the man’s mouth open wider. The man threw up a hand to grapple onto Adam’s arm desperately. Adam slid a hand down the man’s chest. Adam quickly found his hard member through his clothes, and palmed him through the fabric. The man jumped and gasped. Adam continued kissing him for a few moments longer before he swiftly pulled away with a loud, wet sound. The man looked dazed, and Adam smirked.

The larger man who’d been passed over reached out to grab Adam’s leg, as if to pull him over indignantly. Adam scowled. His kicked the man’s hand away, and swiftly reached his foot out to the back of the man’s chair and gave it a push, sending him toppling over backwards. Adam stood up fluidly. He moved away, kicking the man’s wine over so it spilled over him, and treading a foot very much purposely on the man’s plate of food. People around him cheered and whistled. Adam smirked and gave a little, flourished bow.

A little bit farther down the table, Adam went onto all fours and opened his mouth to stroke his tongue up and down a handsome man’s. Their mouths stayed open, their tongues just wrestling and playing and then making love. It was filthy just to watch. Adam wound up crawling off the table and into the man’s lap. Adam straddled him, grinding down against him smoothly while their mouths continued to mesh together.

After a while, Adam moved onto the man sitting next at the table. Adam didn’t even bother getting back on the table, he just slid right into the man’s lap and kissed him hard.

In this manner, Adam was passed around the table. He went from person to person, not skipping over the women or unattractive men. His mouth looked a darker shade of red each time he left another lap, but each time he unleashed a fervor on the next person like they had been the first one in line.

As much as it pained Kris to his very soul to watch it, he found himself alarmingly unable to look away. After a while, Adam was beginning to work his way down near Kris’ end of the table. Kris hadn’t the slightest idea what to do when the moment came when Adam would see him. Kris knew Adam would never be thoughtless enough to reveal Kris. But Kris didn’t think he would be able to pull Adam into his lap like everyone else and tongue-kiss him like he didn’t know him. Or love him, for that matter.

Kris’ worrying hadn’t produced any solutions by the time Adam was two chairs away from him. It was while he kissed that woman that Adam tossed his head back for a gulp of air, glanced down the table, and froze solid.

Adam would recognize his Kris’ face anywhere. Adam wracked his brain for all of a second for what he should do.

After only leaving the woman one more tiny kiss, Adam stepped back up onto the table. He immediately moved his way down towards Kris, doing his best to put a wanting smirk on his face.

“Look at this beautiful boy,” Adam mused aloud to the people sitting around Kris. “Why don’t you put that hood down, dear, so everyone else can see your lovely face.”

Kris panicked for a moment as Adam reached over to push his hood back, but then realized there was no chance that any of the royal family sitting in thrones on the dais could see him all the way down there.

“Oh, are you tempting…” Adam said with a smirk. “In fact, too tempting to resist, I believe.” Adam stepped down from the table, grabbed Kris’ hand, and was pulling Kris away from the table before Kris even knew what happened. Kris stayed silent, just gripping Adam’s hand and following him quickly. Adam didn’t stop running until they were well outside the grand hall – hidden behind a huge pillar in the grand atrium.

Adam peeked around the pillar for a few moments, to make sure they hadn’t been followed. When he was satisfied he could expect no one, he turned to face Kris with anxious eyes.

“Kris…” Adam whispered in a reverent voice. Kris threw himself at Adam before anything else could be said, hugging him tightly with his arms up around Adam’s neck.

“Oh, Adam! Gods, I missed you!” Adam’s head dropped to Kris’ shoulder, his hands resting lightly on Kris’ waist, and then sliding around his back to hug him back. Kris pulled back a moment later to look into Adam’s face with concerned eyes. He moved one hand to touch Adam’s heavily made-up cheek. “Are you alright? They haven’t been…..um,..hurting you, have they?” Adam gave Kris as much of a consoling smile as he could, but his gaze dropped to the floor, discomfited.

“Well, you saw what they have me doing. If this were a banquet with foreign ambassadors or someone else the royal family really wants to impress, I would later be sleeping with at least a good third of the people sitting at the table right now.

Kris sucked in a sharp breath, looking like someone had just punched him. Adam was quick to take Kris’ face between his hands and soothe him softly. “It’s alright,” he said softly. “It’s nothing I can’t handle, or am not used to. Lady Merrick can try all she wants, but she won’t break me.” Adam smiled gently at Kris, and Kris gave a wobbly frown.

“I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have to be comforting me right now. You’re the one trapped in this awful place.”

“I have my own, nice room at least. And servants, although I never really wanted any before.” Adam left out the part about the guards stationed outside his room at night. Kris didn’t need to hear that. Adam waved his hand in the air, wanting to change the subject. There were other important things to discuss. “What about you and Michael? I’ve been praying you two have been faring fine…”

“Don’t you give yourself the additional concern of worrying about us. We’re doing just fine. It’s a bit quiet and boring without you around, though,” Kris said with a smile. Adam returned it, and traced a finger lightly over Kris’ bottom lip. He could hardly believe Kris was standing right here, in front of him. Adam wanted to touch him, hold him, and never let go. Kris was what had been getting Adam through his horrid imprisonment. Kris added, “I hope you don’t mind us skimming a bit of the gold from your chest. I had to get a horse to come here.”

“Kris, you can use all of it. What’s mine is yours.” Kris’ smile grew a bit, and he closed his lips to kiss the finger Adam was skimming across Kris’ mouth. “I love you, Kris,” Adam murmured, gently, reverently. “So much.”

Kris looked up to meet Adam’s eyes. Somehow, Kris looked both joyous and heartbroken at the same time. “Oh Adam, I do too. No matter how long they keep you away from me, I will keep doing so.”

Adam’s fingers rose to Kris’ cheek, stroking the soft skin tenderly. Adam tipped his head towards Kris a little, but then shifted back away, looking towards the floor again. Kris looked up, puzzled that Adam had pulled away when he’d thought Adam was about to kiss him. Adam had an expression on his face that seemed akin to misery, and wouldn’t meet Kris’ eyes.

“What is it?” Kris asked softly. Adam looked farther away from the other man, and Kris frowned.

“I….. just….,” Adam tried in a soft, timid voice. “Y-you…saw, out there. I wasn’t sure if you’d ……… want to.” Adam finished in a whisper.

Kris felt a pang of pain in his chest at the sadness and uncertainty all over Adam’s face. Adam’s lips were unmistakably an angry red color, but they looked just as beautiful and appealing to Kris as they had the first time he had kissed them. There was only one way to clear this up, to make Adam see he never had to agonize over whether Kris’ feelings for him would remain the same.

Kris threw his arms securely around Adam’s neck, pressed close to him, and kissed him full-on and deeply. Adam was caught off guard for a moment, his eyes wide. Then they slipped closed, his lips formed to return the kiss, and Adam’s arms rose to hold Kris to him tightly. Kris finally pulled back a long, long moment later. He smiled wide at Adam, and when Adam returned the smile without hesitation, Kris knew he had proven his point.

Kris’ tone quickly grew somber again though. “What kind of watch are you kept under? Do you think there’s any way Michael and I can get you out of here?”

“I’m afraid I can’t think of one,” Adam said, his arms still resting around Kris’ waist. “Lady Merrick has her own force of guards here, and they watch every entrance and exit, every minute of every day. They all know my face, and know to watch for any escape attempts. There are guards all over the inside of the palace too. It’s hard for me to go anywhere without being seen.” Kris chewed his bottom lip, frowning as he listened to Adam and trying to think of any possibilities Adam hadn’t yet. Adam continued, “I think my only hope could be gaining the favor of someone in here, someone who could help me get out. On my own, there’s no chance. And there’s no way for you or Michael to get in. Except for your brilliant plan tonight, of course.” Adam pecked Kris’ lips again.

Suddenly a voice called from the direction of the grand hall, where Kris and Adam had just run from, “Lambert! Where did you go off to?!”

“Shit,” Adam breathed, eyes narrowing and pulling Kris closer. “Lady Merrick already sent guards looking for me. Bear with me for a moment, Kris…” Before Kris could figure out what Adam meant, Adam shifted them around and pressed Kris’ back against the pillar they were hiding behind. Knowing it would only be a matter of seconds before the guard saw them, Adam attached his mouth to Kris’ neck, sucking and licking at the skin. He pushed one hand under the waistband of Kris’ pants. Kris gasped, caught off guard by the unexpected touch. Then Kris saw the guard looking for them step into view, and understood what Adam was doing. Kris clutched one hand to Adam’s upper arm, and moaned as convincingly as he could.

Adam turned his head from Kris’ neck to look back at the guard. “What?” he snapped. “Does Lady Merrick have a problem with me doing my job?”

“No, I’ll go report back and tell her where you are.” Adam immediately turned back to Kris, dismissing the guard. Kris kept writhing against Adam as much as he could until the guard disappeared from sight.

As soon as he was gone, Adam practically flew away from Kris. “I’m so sorry,” he said in a rush, eyes wide.

“Don’t be.” Kris pulled the waistband of his pants back up, and shrugged as nonchalantly as he could for how his heart was racing. “It’s not really like I minded.”

“You’re going to have to get out of here without too many people seeing you. Lady Merrick, along with a lot of other people, will watch who I come back in there with. My leaving probably drew a lot of attention. At best, we only have a few minutes before Lady Merrick comes here herself to check the guard’s story.” Kris nodded, reaching to do up his long, hooded robes again.

“So,..” Kris said, “You think your only chance of getting out is finding someone inside who will help you?”

Adam nodded. “I have no idea if I can do that.”

“If you do, could you find a way to send us a message? Then Michael and I can plan when to come get you.”

Adam nodded, but then frowned a bit. “Don’t hinge too much on me, Kris. I’m afraid this plan is a long shot.”

“But, Adam…..” Kris walked over to him, and put his arms around him, looking up right into his face. “Everything hinges on you. I love you. You’re practically everything to me. There has to be a way for you to escape.” Adam’s eyes softened, and he pulled Kris close.

“I love you too. And you know I’ll try. I’ll try whatever it takes to get back to you.” Adam closed his eyes for a moment, buried his face in Kris’ soft hair, and took in – just for a moment – the feel of Kris in his arms. “I’m afraid you really have to go now,” Adam said softly. “If Lady Merrick sees you in here with me, all is lost.” Kris nodded, pulling away from Adam. He drew his hood back up over his head. “You should return first,” Adam told him. “Don’t sit down, just walk straight through and right to the door. Leave immediately. I’ll go back in a few minutes.”

“Okay.” His dark hood back on and ready to go, Kris paused only for a moment to look at Adam. He rose onto his toes to kiss him lightly, one last time. “I will see you again, soon,” he said firmly.

“Yes,” Adam murmured.

Adam watched Kris hurry off, taking Adam’s heart with him, for safekeeping.

 

When Kris and his horse finally approached the tent – home – again, Michael was outside waiting for him.

Michael walked out to meet him, and took the reigns as Kris dismounted.

“How did it go?” Michael asked anxiously.

“I saw him. When he saw me, he dragged me off so we could have a few minutes to talk. He’s…having a rough time there. But he says he’s holding up.”

“Classic Adam for you there. He could be too exhausted to see straight and he’d still say he’s good as gold.”

Kris looked down at the sand blowing over his feet as he thought back to his few stolen minutes with Adam. It hurt Kris so badly to think that Adam was still trapped back there, still being controlled and abused like some kind of toy in the hands of a careless child.

“That Lady Merrick has got him on a short leash. It seems like she always has him accounted for, she’s always watching him. Adam says there’s no way right now for us to help him.” Michael exhaled quickly. The hope he’d been stoking while Kris was away was suddenly and painfully doused. “He did say, though, that there could be a chance if he can get someone inside to help him. It would have to be someone powerful, though. He’s not sure if he can do it.”

“Well, unless they’ve all got hearts and genitals of steel in there, I bet he can.” Kris couldn’t help the little laugh that escaped him from Michael’s words. Michael smiled a little too. The brief moment of complacency was well-welcomed.

“So, really there’s nothing we can do right now.”

Kris shook his head. “It seems that way. Nothing.” Michael sighed.

“Well I’m glad you were able to see him. It’s a good thing you went. I’m sure it was a good thing for him, too, seeing your face.”

“I hope so. Anything to help him a little, at least, in that awful place.”

Michael tied down the horse’s reigns so the animal wouldn’t run anywhere. Then he gave Kris a firm pat on the shoulder.

“Go on inside and rest. I did manage to make a little bread while you were gone.”

“Great, I’m starving.” Kris hurried inside. He was glad to be back in the tent, but it wasn’t exactly home without Adam around.

 

“Lord Merrick.”

The man jumped a little at Adam’s direct address of him. He looked up quickly from the scrolls in his hand, to where Adam was standing behind the Pharaoh’s now-empty throne. Merrick had been having a discussion with the monarch about some business of politics. Sometimes Adam was summoned for meetings such as these to be on-hand for the Pharaoh’s needs – refill his glass, fan him, or so forth. Adam knew it was always either the slave keeper or Lady Merrick who had him summoned for these. Adam wasn’t quite sure what he’d done to make an enemy of the slave keeper as well. Adam was something of his main attraction. Then again, Adam thought it was probably because he always made a point while he was entertaining to do the opposite of all the slave keeper had attempted to teach him in those Propriety meetings.

“Merrick,” Adam said again, more emphatically. The older man didn’t look up from his scrolls. The Pharaoh had taken a short leave from the meeting to get himself something to eat. Adam had offered to fetch something for him, but the man had waved him off. If he’d wanted just to get out of Merrick’s presence, Adam was more than understanding. Now, Adam and Merrick were alone in the throne room. And Merrick was making as much of an effort as possible to ignore Adam’s presence.

“Look at me!” Adam practically shouted, slamming his hand down on the arm of the throne. Merrick finally did so. His hands were shaking the slightest bit against the scrolls.

“Why do you avoid me now?” Adam asked, softening and lowering his voice as much as he could bring himself to. “You hardly even look at me when I’m in the same room.” As much as the thought absolutely disgusted and revolted him, Adam’s only real option for an ally within the palace was Merrick. It was his damn fault that Adam was trapped here in the first place.

“You made it quite clear the last time we spoke that you wanted me to keep away from you.”

“You’re a Lord. Husband to the Pharaoh’s sister. As if you’d be intimidated by my threats.”

Merrick lifted his scrolls again. He tried to hide his face as best he could, and stop the trembling of his hands. “My wife explicitly forbids me from coming into contact with you.”

Adam’s mouth opened a bit in disbelief. Of course now, the man was committed to his wife and her wishes.

There was the sound of sandals moving across the stone floor, and the Pharaoh returned. Adam quickly stood back up straight in his position behind the throne. The young Pharaoh reclaimed his seat, and continued right where he’d left off with Lord Merrick.

Adam had to keep his jaw tight and fists clenched as he stood there for the rest of the meeting. Whether it was really that Merrick was afraid of his wife’s wrath or Adam’s, there was no chance of him helping Adam now.

‘He’s completely useless,’ Adam brooded angrily in his mind.

When the meeting was finally over, the Pharaoh gave him his leave. Adam bowed before returning to his room. As he walked through the long, grand hallways of the palace, he passed one of the Pharaoh’s wives. Adam didn’t know her name, but she was the smallest one out of the three, and he guessed the youngest. She looked no older than sixteen or seventeen. Adam averted his eyes like he knew he was supposed to, but he didn’t miss the cold look she gave him as she passed.

Adam had a hunch that she as well as the other two wives all disliked him. The reason was probably because he took the attention off of them at banquets. The three women always sat up tall in their thrones, wearing their glittering jewelry and luxurious, hand-woven sheath dresses with their hair braided and styled to perfection. But as soon as Adam made an appearance, hardly anyone looked at them anymore. Adam didn’t think it was exactly fair. If that was seriously bothering them, they should take up their discontent with the slave keeper. He was the one who pushed Adam out there every night.

It was the same for all the other girls and boys of the harem. None of them ever spoke to Adam. Whenever he went to the kitchens for a meal, he would ignore the way they sometimes whispered behind their hands, watched him with narrowed eyes as he passed by them. Adam ignored it, but that didn’t mean he didn’t notice it. If he had to guess, their contempt was probably because of a similar reason to the Pharaoh’s wives.

If anyone cared for Adam’s will, he’d be far, far away from here, and no longer bothering any of the many people in the palace he had somehow managed to offend.

 

“So, you saved Adam’s life? When he was younger, from his father….”

Michael nodded as he poked his spoon around in his soup. He and Kris were sitting outside, across from each other with a fire burning and sizzling between them.

“It’s a blessing I was there at the right time. If he didn’t kill Adam, his father would have done something plenty awful.”

“You … gave him somewhere to live too, that’s what Adam said.”

“After I let him stay with me, we kind of banded together. I was living alone, and didn’t really have much of anything to do with myself. I knew about the horrible life Adam had had, living in his father’s house. It wasn’t right to do that to anyone, … especially not your own son.” Michael sighed heavily, and Kris just stared into the flames, his hands tightening around his soup bowl. “The first morning Adam woke up in my house, I think we both knew that we were gonna be stuck together for good. There was no one else to really watch for him. He had those women who raised him, but they couldn’t do anything for him from where they were locked up in his father’s house. He couldn’t lose everything, … miss his chance at life, because of what his father did to him. I wouldn’t see that happen. So, when Adam’s father sold the girl in his house who I had thought I was going to marry, there was nothing to do but leave. Adam and I found ourselves here. It was hard, starting out. I didn’t have enough money to support us both, and Adam had none. So Adam started working the street-sides. Said it was how he’d repay me for what I did for him. I tried to get him not to, told him it had been pointless for me to get him out of his father’s house if he was just going to continue the practice elsewhere. Adam wouldn’t listen. Always stubborn, that brute.” Michael and Kris both chuckled a little bit. “Pretty quickly, we had enough money for this place. To this day, Adam still tries to give me a share. But I don’t need money for anything. If Adam’s gonna keep doing what he does, there’s nowhere for me to be but here, keeping him safe best I can. You can’t walk out on a job like that.” Michael sighed, plunking his bowl down in the sand. “But now he’s off with those royal bastards, getting god-knows-what done to him. And there isn’t shit we can do about it.”

“They had no right at all,” Kris murmured, still staring into the fire. “They sit up in their thrones in that palace, and Lord Merrick thinks it doesn’t matter when he throws Adam’s life away to save his own reputation.”

“I would throttle the bastard if I had the chance,” Michael growled.

They fell into silence, as was customary. After it stretched on for a little while, with only the fire cracking and hissing between them and the stars shining overhead, Kris got up to bring their dishes inside.

Michael spoke up once more, after Kris had gathered up their bowls. “You know, Kris, the day Adam came home from the markets with you in tow, all beaten up, I had no idea what he was doing. But I realized pretty quickly, you’re the best thing that’s ever happened to him. I used to be afraid that Adam would never truly escape his father. His whole life he’d had to pretend to be a lover, and he would do anything for a real one. I think he needed someone to change the way he sees himself. I just hope you know how important you are – how much you can change him, help him.”

“You don’t have to tell me, Michael,” Kris said softly, smiling just a little bit. “Because he’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, too. I’d do anything to help him.”

“You don’t have to do much. Just be yourself. Just be with him.”

“That’s what I plan on. If we get him out of that palace, that’s what I want to spend the rest of my life doing.”

“When we get him out of that palace,” Michael corrected. Kris’ smile grew.

“Right. When.”

 

At tonight’s public banquet, Adam had almost had too many hands grabbing for him on the table to dodge. Thankfully, even Lady Merrick had seen that this crowd was too unruly to trust with her merchandise. Usually, she was all too happy to hand Adam over to overeager men who would leave bruises on him. But if Adam was hurt too badly, she would have to wait at least a couple days without being able to humiliate and mistreat him. So after doing his prowling down the table for the night, Adam was allowed to retire.

Adam had a much-needed night off from banquet guests, but the palace guards never took vacations. Adam really didn’t have the strength at the moment to return to his room and face Abbas and Fadir. He knew they were sure to be there. So Adam took a detour and walked up to the balconies on the roof. They were the only place in the palace Adam actually liked. He could look out for miles, and feel the sweet night air blowing through his hair.

He stayed there for a long while. He was glad that tonight he had been excused from the usual tight, minimal clothing he had to wear. He was currently clad in a simple black silk robe. The fabric fit his form, though, and kept him warm from the chilling night air. Eventually, he saw all the banquet guests slowly filtering outside. Some left on foot, others on horse back. Adam wished Kris was among them – wish he could see Kris’ face again. But Adam knew it had been a huge risk for Kris to come once, and was plenty grateful for the single blessing.

The moon and stars slowly shifted across the sky, and Adam knew by now that the grand hall had long been empty. He was tired, and waiting any longer would do no good. He treaded down the stairs and back towards his room. At first, the hallway appeared empty. Adam made no attempt to hide his rush to his door and wrenched the handle open. A hand grabbed his arm, and he grit his teeth as he heard Fadir’s familiar laughter from behind him.

“Thought you could sneak by us? We’re not that slow, you little whore.”

Adam was hauled away from the door and thrown back against the wall. Then Abbas came into view as well.

“Please,” Adam said softly, his eyes closed. He had had enough of this, and didn’t have the energy to hold himself above begging. “I’m so tired. Not tonight, please.”

“You say that every night like it’ll mean something else,” Abbas said with a laugh. He leaned in, his mouth aiming for Adam’s neck. Adam twisted his head away, and shoved Abbas backwards.

“Useless bitch,” Fadir growled, grabbing Adam’s hands and pinning them against the wall.

“You monsters, get the fuck away!”

“Oh but I so enjoy being a monster,” Fadir leered. “Now shut your pretty mouth.” He slapped a hand tight over Adam’s mouth, his fingers digging into Adam’s jaw. Adam squeezed his eyes shut and struggled hard, lashing out with all he could to keep them from getting a hold of him and dragging him into his room.

A hand tightened fast around Adam’s waist, and then shoved its way beneath his tight clothing. Adam shut his eyes against the sight of them, and writhed, fighting against them and refusing to keep still.

“Guards! What in Ra’s name is the meaning of this?!”

The two men let go of Adam instantly. Adam slumped against the wall, breathing hard. When he finally pushed his eyes open, he saw Abbas and Fadir backed up against the opposite wall and looking down towards the ground fearfully. When Adam looked down the hall to find the source of the booming voice that had called them off, he was shocked to see the Pharaoh himself standing a little ways down the hall.

“It is unacceptable for guards serving me and the gods to behave like animals! I should have both of you lashed and banished!” the two guards visibly flinched. “Get out of my sight! I will decide your punishments later. But if you ever step foot in the harem quarters again, I’ll have your dirtied hands cut off.”

The two men tripped over themselves and shoved each other in their attempts to rush away. As soon as they disappeared from sight, the Pharaoh came over and approached Adam. Adam straightened up, but bowed his head.

“Are you hurt?” the Pharaoh asked, voice softened from the belting harshness it had held only a moment ago.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you,” Adam straightened his shoulders.

“I pray this has not been a recurring event.”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you, Your Majesty, but it has been. Ever since I came here.” The man frowned deeply, looking genuinely perturbed. He reached out to Adam’s arm, steadying and helping him stand up from against the wall.

“I’m going to see to it that they are severely punished. Don’t worry, you won’t be seeing hide nor hair of them again.”

“Thank you, really. I am indebted to you, my lord.” The Pharaoh’s hand did not linger cumbrously once Adam was standing sturdy on his own.

“Your name is Adam, is it not? I’ve seen you many times in the grand hall. You’re the one my sister has such a grudge against,” he said the last part with a hint of a laugh behind his voice, as if something about it was amusing.

“I’m afraid so, Your Majesty,” Adam said softly, his head still tipped downwards and eyes fixed on the ground. The first thing he had learned in those brainless propriety meetings with the slave keeper was to always avert one’s eyes around a member of the royal family. It was the only principle Adam had learned that he adhered to. He didn’t want to offend anyone else.

“Why don’t you look up from the ground? Don’t waste your face on the floor. You’re very beautiful, you know.”

Completely and utterly shocked, Adam’s gaze slowly slid upwards. He had never thought the Pharaoh took his time to look at anyone other than women. Adam looked up, and slowly met the Pharaoh’s gaze. It wasn’t the first time Adam had noticed that he was a ridiculously attractive man. Even through the loose tunic he had on, his slender, muscled form was plenty visible. His bright green eyes were watching Adam with kindness – a kind of look Adam couldn’t remember seeing before during his whole time in the palace. The Pharaoh’s dark hair was braided back loosely, and the tall, ornate crown he always wore during banquets was replaced with a much smaller, humbler one. He was absolutely stunning.

Adam looked into the man’s eyes, deciphering him. If Adam was back home and the man standing before him was a potential customer, Adam would have said he had him roped in for sure. But this man was the ruler of all the land Adam had ever seen or stepped foot on, and one of the most powerful men in the world. Adam knew he had to be wrong in his assumption.

While Adam was busy arguing with himself, he suddenly noticed that the man was standing noticeably closer than he had been before. Adam could see, all of a sudden, the pink color of the man’s lips. Adam stood ram-right straight and still. The Pharaoh was the one who leaned in, moving closer. Adam barely had time to part his own lips before the other man’s mouth brushed his, slowly and gently. After their lips slid apart, there was a moment of pregnant silence. Adam could feel the man’s hot breath against his mouth. Then they moved simultaneously, in something similar to an explosion.

Lips mashed against each other, kissing messily and practically desperately. The man’s strong hands found Adam’s hips and dragged him up close against his own body. Adam’s hands rose to the Pharaoh’s shoulders, his fingers clutching tightly for purchase. The only sounds heard were the soft wet ones of a pair of mouths locked in a passionate dance for two, near uncontrollable.

When they parted, there was heavy, rushed breathing on both sides. The Pharaoh glanced to the door behind Adam.

“Is that your room?” Adam nodded. “Let’s step inside before someone sees and starts gossip.”

The Pharaoh let go of Adam and moved to push open the door. He slipped inside, and Adam followed.

In that moment, it hit Adam with staggering clarity and excitement. This was his chance. Suddenly, he had the attention of the most powerful person in the palace. If this went according to the plan he had envisioned in his head within the last couple seconds, maybe he really would be able to see Kris again soon.

Adam knew he had to grab this moment with both hands, and take full advantage of it. Adam strode farther into the room, while the Pharaoh closed the door behind them. It was late into the night, and the only illumination in the room trickled in through the windows opposite the door. The night was clear, the moon full, bright, and beautiful. The moonlight danced across Adam’s fair skin.

Facing the window, Adam moved his hands to the ties of the black robes he had on. It took him only a moment to undo them. Then he slid his fingers under the material at his shoulders, and slipped them down. He let the robes slide off his shoulders and down his body, just catching the billowing sleeves where they gathered at his hands and arms by his sides. With the fabric hooked at his hands, the robes dipped across his lower back, with his back smooth and exposed above. Adam turned from the window, then. The robes had fallen completely open across his front. He was bare underneath. With his eyes trained precisely and boldly on the other man’s face, he let the robes fall to the ground, where they pooled around his feet.

The Pharaoh’s eyes traveled slowly, tentatively across him. He did not engorge himself with the sight, but used temperance.

Like what the Pharaoh had stopped in the hallway had never been attempted, Adam stood straight and perfect.

“I assume you know, Your Majesty. I am a member of your harem. As such, you are entitled to whatever you’d like with me,” Adam used the voice that was molten silk, seductive and inviting.

Adam stood there tall and still, and with the other man looking upon him for a few more moments. Then the Pharaoh reached for his headdress. He removed it, and set it down on the table beside the door. His fingers found the lock on the door, and he turned it into place.

He treaded out towards Adam with eyes smoldering and hot, but Adam found himself filled with thrill. He had almost forgotten he could feel like this – heat unfolding in his limbs, excitement and desire swirling in his chest.

The other, taller man reached him, and the first thing that came into contact was their lips - Locked and ravaging with the force of near-uncontrollable desire. Adam’s hands clung to and moved across the other man’s shoulders, while his hands pressed Adam close against him, his hands racing back and forth across the skin of Adam’s back. Adam quickly found the button at the top of the other man’s tunic, holding it closed. Adam’s fingers scrabbled to undo it. He continued down to its brothers, opening them as quickly as he could, but it wasn’t so easy when his eyes were closed and all his attention absorbed in where his mouth was intensely occupied. As soon as the front of the Pharaoh’s tunic was open, Adam’s hands pushed their way across smooth, bare skin, forcing the fabric out of the way. The man let go of him for a moment, so Adam could shove the tunic away and to the floor. His hands flew back to Adam’s body, one winding into his hair. The man’s lips hurried down from Adam’s mouth to the supple skin of his neck, to suck and kiss hungrily. Adam’s head tilted back, and he let out a moan that hadn’t needed any coaxing. He felt the Pharaoh’s strong hands slide back down his body and spread over his ass. Adam rushed to take care of the clothing covering the other man’s bottom half.

With all of their troublesome clothing finally gotten rid of, they tumbled onto Adam’s bed together, lips still entwined. Adam’s hands dragged over the man’s back, fingers digging into his tanned skin. From his position above Adam, the man’s lips slid down Adam’s neck then progressed across his chest. Adam sunk his fingers into the Pharaoh’s hair and he pushed his hips up from the bed to roll them against the other man’s now-equally bare ones, drawing a raw, needy noise from the young man.

“Forgive me if I’m mistaken, my lord, but I am under the impression that you have never lain with a man before.”

“You are not mistaken, Adam,” said the Pharaoh in a breathless voice, crawling back up Adam’s body to kiss him again. One of his hands slid down Adam’s side to his thigh. “But I have a good enough idea of the practice.”

He slid one finger inside, and Adam let out a soft gasp. Adam breathed hard, feeling the man’s mouth busy against his neck while he worked the finger all the way inside and began circling it slowly inside him.

“Will I need oil or some kind of lubricant?”

Adam nodded, and reached a hand down to fumble in the drawer of his bedside table until he retrieved the oil used to moisturize his skin. At the very least, he never said life in the palace wasn’t high-class.

Adam handed the other man the small container of oil before Adam rolled onto his stomach.

“It’s easier this way,” Adam murmured, making himself comfortable against the pillows. He closed his eyes as he felt the Pharaoh’s hands traveling over him. The Pharaoh had hands strengthened and callused by war and countless battles. But against Adam’s body, he channeled his strength into gentle caresses and maneuvering Adam into positions that made him more receptive to his ministrations.

The Pharaoh’s mouth moved sensually along Adam’s back, following the path of his spine. Adam closed his eyes, and then gasped softly, his muscles flexing as three of the man’s slickened fingers gently moved within him again. Not nearly soon enough, Adam felt the man behind him shifting on the bed, removing his fingers in favor of positioning himself.

But then, opposite to what Adam had been expecting, the man said, “Turn over for a moment.” Adam complied, moving onto his back again. Adam was caught off guard for a second by just how magnificent the man was – face flushed and muscles tensed to hold himself propped up over Adam. He was positioned down near Adam’s mid-section, and the intense gaze of his pristine green eyes was focused solely on Adam’s face.

“There is no pleasure for either if it is taken unwillingly.”

Adam blinked, a bit surprised at the man’s words. No one had ever said anything like that to him before, especially not anyone in the palace.

He continued, “I may be a novice to the ways of my harem, but I will not turn my back on my principles. I would not do this with you if you believed you were in obligation to my throne.” The Pharaoh was leaning up on his arms now, watching Adam’s face instead of anywhere else. “It would only be right if it was solely because you want to – want me.”

Adam was rather shocked, but did his best to cover it up and school his expression. He smiled down at the other man, and reached a hand down to his hair.

“If that’s what’s concerning you, forget it. I haven’t wanted anything since I was brought to the palace, but I want this now. Not because your crown’s sitting over there, but just because you’re ridiculously attractive,” Adam said with a soft laugh. It was true that he hoped to coax an ally out of the man, but at the current moment there was little attached to Adam’s actions. He was genuinely and intensely attracted to him. Who wouldn’t be?

Adam moved back onto his stomach and parted his legs. “Please, go on. I want you to, more than anything.”

He heard the Pharaoh shifting on the bed behind him, and the sound of the oil swishing around in the container. Adam let out a breath and pushed back eagerly into the man’s touch when he felt him lining up.

“Come up a bit,” the Pharaoh coaxed gently, sliding an arm beneath Adam’s hips to have him lift up from the bed a bit so Adam could shift and react and move with him, instead of just having to lie there still.

The first push was fiery, searing pleasure that raced through every inch of Adam’s body. He arched, gasping and pressing into the Pharaoh’s hands and deeper into his movements, and he just wanted more. The Pharaoh’s hands were strong and steadfast around Adam’s waist, his movements firm and deep yet the way he dove into Adam remained far from forceful. Adam moved with him, into him, and he had never before with all his countless ‘lovers’, felt such intense, wonderful pleasure.

Adam was accustomed to being a passive receiver, but at this moment Adam felt something new – he felt like a partner. He knew that the man behind him was noble and would not abuse him. Adam felt almost that he could trust him. He was setting Adam’s body practically on fire, moving at precisely the right angle with swivels of the hips and smooth thrusts. Adam’s eyes were closed, his body pulsing and rocking in sync with the other man’s movements, and Adam moaned and called out for more. In almost all the while Adam could remember, this was the first time that sentiment had not been an act.

A while later, Adam was falling onto the bed, panting and sweaty and stunned. He rolled onto his back, and as his chest rose and fell with his heavy breathing. The Pharaoh dropped down beside him, equally as worn-out.

“Good gods…” the man panted, “I feel as if I’ve never had real sex before tonight.” Adam smiled through his struggle for even breath. He turned over towards the other man and pressed close against his side, mouthing at the skin of his chest and then down his side.

“You should have bedded a man much sooner,” Adam murmured against the Pharaoh’s skin.

“No,” the Pharaoh disagreed, his eyes fixed downwards on Adam’s face. “I should have bedded you much sooner.”

With that, Adam suddenly found them flipped, himself beneath the other man again.

“How exhausted are you?” the Pharaoh asked, his eyes hungry again for the delicacy he had just had his first helping of.

“Oh, incredibly awake,” Adam responded immediately, eagerly.

The Pharaoh looked up to Adam’s face, focusing on him and a little bit of the hazy lust momentarily fading from his eyes. “Are you certain you feel up to a second time?” he asked seriously, his eyes warm and concerned.

“As certain as I could be.” Just to give the other man a little coax along, Adam gave a little roll of his body between the bed and the other man’s form. Then Adam lifted a hand to his own mouth, watching the other man through hooded eyes as he slowly sucked two fingers in past his lips and sucked gratuitously.

Something seemed to go off in the other man. In the blink of an eye, he gripped Adam’s hips and tugged him down in one sudden movement against his own body. Adam groaned and slid his legs up right away over the other man’s shoulders. “Yes, … yes,” Adam gasped gratefully as he was taken a second time.

 

Their secret and passionate affair became the regular highlight of their lives in the palace. Adam woke every morning wondering when the guard would come with his covert summons to the Pharaoh’s private chambers. Whether it was morning or evening, Adam would steal his way through the palace’s corridors, and wait for the moment when he could sneak into the Pharaoh’s chambers without anyone other than the guards seeing. While it was true that the whole purpose of the royal harem was so the Pharaoh would never be sexually dissatisfied, he had told Adam he wanted to keep their rendezvous hidden as much as possible.

Adam remembered the way the Pharaoh had told him, “My sister will blow her fuse with anger if she finds out how you’ve made your way into my bed and my thoughts. The same goes for my wives, who will no doubt find out if my sister does. I just can’t afford any dissention within my own home now, considering how the Assyrians keep pressuring the southern border and war could very well be on the horizon.”

Obviously, Adam had understood. He wasn’t offended, how could he be? That conversation had conspired the second time they had been together, after Adam had been wandering through the palace and suddenly been drawn aside by the Pharaoh who had murmured to him, “I simply can’t stop thinking about you.” It had been the same for Adam, and so he had been more than willing to follow the Pharaoh back to his chambers and have incredible, passionate sex on the floor right there behind the locked door. They had made it onto the bed for rounds two and three, and afterwards had curled up together to discuss their arrangement that clearly needed to become recurring.

Usually, they fell into the pattern of Adam coming to see the Pharaoh in his chambers in the late afternoon. Then when the evening hours rolled around and the Pharaoh had to leave to attend to the palace’s nightlife, he would tell Adam to remain in his private chambers and rest instead of going out to work. The Pharaoh would tell the slave keeper he’d heard Adam was ill, and since no one but the Pharaoh himself was permitted in his private bedchambers, Adam wouldn’t be found. Adam was appreciating their arrangement more and more with each passing day.

Tonight, Adam had heard that the Pharaoh had been out all day training with some of his soldiers for the oncoming possibility of war. The sun had just recently set when there was a knock at Adam’s door. He knew it would either be one of the Pharaoh’s manservants come to fetch Adam, or the slave keeper with Adam’s job for the evening. When Adam opened the door, he was thrilled to see that it was the former.

“My master is returning now from the armory. He sent a messenger ahead, saying he wishes to see you upon his arrival.”

Adam nodded with a smile. “I shall be ready to greet him.”

Adam snuck his way through the palace, and then the guards barring the Pharaoh’s bedchambers allowed him in. They knew he was the exception. Adam didn’t have to wait long for the Pharaoh’s return. When he walked through the door still with his armor strapped on, Adam was lounging in his bed, naked.

“Aren’t you a sight for eyes as sore as mine,” he commented with a relieved groan as he reached for the clasps to undo his armored clothes.

“Let me,” Adam said immediately, getting up from the bed. He covered the Pharaoh’s hands with his own and loosened the clasps. Adam ridded him of the bottom half of his clothing first. Once his cock was exposed, Adam lowered himself to his knees, sliding his hands down the man’s body on the way down. Adam’s mouth worked its masterful magic, and the Pharaoh curled his fingers in Adam’s hair and groaned as all of his soreness and fatigue from the day’s training seemed to melt away and be healed.

A short while later, they were kissing and stumbling over to the bed, the rest of the Pharaoh’s clothes dropping onto the floor as they went. And a long while after that, they both laid sprawled out on the bed, breathing hard and satisfied.

“You have no idea how glad I was that tonight wasn’t an allotted one to spend with one of my wives. All I wanted to do when I got back today was see you.” He rolled over onto his side and kissed Adam again. Adam smiled and traced his hand up the other man’s side.

“Mmm..and did I fulfill everything you were wishing for?”

“All that and more, as usual.”

The Pharaoh reached over to the bedside table where there was always a tray that remained stocked with the most delicious fresh fruit. He plucked a couple of grapes, popped one in his own mouth, and handed the rest to Adam. Adam smiled a little mischievously, and instead of taking the grapes, he guided the Pharaoh’s hand up to his mouth and ate one of the grapes from his fingers. Adam licked his lips ridiculously after he swallowed the grape, and the other man laughed.

“Don’t you enjoy time with your wives?” Adam asked, referring to what they had been discussing a moment ago.

“No, not at all,” the Pharaoh said with a groan. “They were all picked for me by my father, while he was alive. And yes, while they’re all beautiful and charming and beyond lovely, his decision that I should have three ruined them. All they ever do is compete against each other to try and win my favor. I would actually like to know them, have some kind of personal relationship, but there’s nothing genuine in any of them. They’re all just focused on being my favorite and the first to bear a child. It’s near unbearable being in the middle of all of them.”

“I see. It’s as if they’re after the benefits of your position, rather than you.”

The Pharaoh nodded. He was laying on his side, his head propped up on his hand. His other arm was draped over Adam, fingers trailing over the bare skin of his chest.

“That’s why I so enjoy your company. I don’t get that feeling from you. It may not make sense, but I feel as if I actually know you.”

Really, it did make sense to Adam. He had been spending countless hours with the Pharaoh, and they spent even more time just lounging together and talking than they did fucking. Surprisingly, Adam really was coming to know the man intimately – about his character, his personality, his strengths, his weaknesses, his fears. Adam hadn’t divulged much more than his skin-deep self to the other man (nothing like how Kris knew him), but the other man seemed more than satisfied with what Adam told him, just about how he had lived before he’d been brought to the palace.

Adam felt a little guilty, when he thought of the reason the Pharaoh had just told him for appreciating Adam’s company so much, and how Adam was hoping that one day this relationship would pay off and the Pharaoh would help him escape. But genuinely, Adam did enjoy the time they spent together. The man was near perfect – compassionate, humble despite his high standing, impossibly handsome, had the body of a demi-god, and was the best lover Adam could ever have imagined. Adam found it rather unbelievable how incredibly opposite the man was from his sister.

“Would you consider sleeping here for the night instead of returning to your room?” the Pharaoh asked Adam softly, his lips only a breath away from Adam’s before he kissed him gently.

“I would love to. Your bed is much more comfortable, anyway.” The Pharaoh laughed a little. Adam took another one of the grapes, and placed it between the other man’s teeth. Then Adam leaned in, and they kissed languidly for a while, passing the grape back and forth between their mouths before Adam bit into it and shared the sweet juice with his tongue. Afterwards, Adam settled in against the other man’s chest with a smile.

“You have no idea how much I would have loved having you as a regular customer. Your visits would have made my day without fail.”

“I would have loved to be, if I’d only known there was a man out there as wonderful and beautiful as you. It’s no surprise at all that you were so successful. But I doubt every one who came seeking you out deserved your company.”

Adam smiled. “You’re being obsequious.”

“No,” he said, kissing Adam’s hair. “I just like you too much for my own good. You’d better not be a spy, or hiding some dirty agenda for my downfall. My kingdom would be ruined.”

“You can keep your mind at ease,” Adam said, smiling. “I’m as innocent as they come.”

Adam turned onto his side facing away from the other man, ready to end the conversation. He let the Pharaoh pull the blankets up over them, and curl himself gently around Adam’s back. Suddenly, Adam found himself almost immobilized with anger. He was innocent. He was not the conniving seducer everyone in the palace – save for the man in bed next to him – was so certain he was. He had taken Merrick’s invitation because he would have been crazy to turn down such a ridiculously fruitful offer. So Merrick’s wife had found out about Adam’s visit, and then Merrick had pinned the blame on Adam instead of admitting that he himself had been the initiator. Now Adam was trapped in this prison, and everyone treated him like dirt because they all believed something he hadn’t done. The injustice was crushing, and Adam would escape. He would not lose himself to his misery in the palace life, or in the heat of his relations with the Pharaoh. Adam had to get out. He had to get back to Michael and Kris.

Kris. Adam could hardly bear to think about him, because it pained him so much. With every day that passed, he missed Kris more. Kris was what was important. Kris was why Adam had to get out of here.

No matter what, he had to.

 

Adam couldn’t help but wonder whether the gods and fate really were as cruel as he was coming to suspect. Countless passion-filled hours had passed, and the Pharaoh had not yet lost any interest in him. Adam had been spread out on his back in the Pharaoh’s bed, legs spread and body given over to extreme pleasure when he looked right into the other man’s eyes and suddenly realized it. Adam still had nightmares to this day about the night he’d first been forced into his job – about the man’s hideous, beady green eyes that he couldn’t escape from. Now, ten years later, Adam was the lover of the gorgeous, powerful king of Egypt – a man who could fill Adam with a kind of unbelievable pleasure he had thought he would never be able to feel from sex. He was a man with beautiful, glittering green eyes who watched Adam with kindness and respect. Every time Adam went to his bed, he knew he would be safe, taken care of. The Pharaoh never forced anything on Adam, or did anything for his own pleasure alone.

Adam was coming to think it was more and more probable that the Pharaoh was precisely the man Adam had been envisioning his whole life – the man he thought he’d been waiting for. So it was now, once Adam’s heart already belonged to Kris, that this man had come into his life. And Adam was still convinced that he had been going about his search all wrong. A relationship stemmed from sex could never be real or truly heartfelt. He had been a fool to think that he could meet his lover in such a manner. His meeting Kris had been unexpected, unplanned, and Kris had snuck into Adam’s life from the opposite way Adam had been looking.

Kris didn’t see Adam for his body, or have a physical interest in him. Kris’ care came from his feelings, from his heart. When Adam had looked at Kris, and found the other man looking back at him, the tenderness of his gaze had always seemed to transcend Adam’s skin, and sink farther into him. He knew that Kris loved him for everything about him. Adam could never turn his back on that. And no matter how attractive anyone in the palace was, to Adam, Kris would always be more beautiful. He remembered vividly how Kris had snuck into the palace to see him, and all that Kris had risked. Kris had stated again that he loved Adam, would wait for him, and do whatever he could to help Adam escape. Adam still couldn’t believe – after the life he’d had – that he was fortunate enough to have Kris.

 

Ahura carefully balanced the basket in her arms that contained food and treats for her husband. As the first of the Pharaoh’s three wives, she was entitled to the most time with him. But even though tonight had been one of her promised nights to spend with him, he had earlier told her he felt ill and needed to retire early in order to rest. Later, she had gone to the kitchens to collect some healthy foods that could potentially aid her husband’s recovery, and some sweet cakes to make him feel better. Anything to coax his favor.

“Let me in, please. I know he’s resting, but I just want to bring him these,” Ahura told the guards stationed outside the Pharaoh’s chambers, and she held up the basket. One of the two guards shook his head.

“I offer the gravest of apologies, Your Highness, but His Majesty is not allowing anyone inside.”

“No one? I am his wife, bringing him medicinal foods to aid his recovery from his illness. Would you not see our Pharaoh quickly healthy again?”

“Certainly we would. But it is not our job to cure his illnesses. Our obligation to him is following his orders.”

Ahura frowned, shifting the basket in her arms. This was unusual indeed. Her husband was never so strict as to stop his wives from seeing him.

“I refuse to leave until you allow me in. Nothing will move me from this spot.”

“We make no attempt at belligerence, my Lady, but we will not be moving from our places either.”

“Please, I beg of you. Just let me inside to place this basket beside his bed. I will not rouse him from his sleep.”

“We can bring the basket inside for you, Your Highness.”

“I spent great time and care collecting this basket’s contents. I’m afraid I can trust no one with it aside from myself.”

The guard standing to the right of the door sighed loudly, before stepping off to the side slightly. “If there is wrongdoing in this action, my Lady, you will be the one to blame.”

“There will be no blame, guards,” Ahura said with a smile as she sidled past them and through the door.

Once she stepped inside, she closed the door behind her slowly and silently, so as not to wake her husband incase he was sleeping. But only a few quiet steps from the door, she could already tell something was taking place in the bedchamber where the Pharaoh was supposed to be resting. The room was dimmed, but there were noises. Her pulse quickened with her first guess at identifying the sounds. The doorway she stood in was separated from the chambers with transparent silk that hung in the doorway. Ahura squinted, looking through the silk hangings to the bed. Her blood ran cold at what she saw. Her husband had another in his bed – on one of the nights he was to spend with her.

The Pharaoh was kneeling upright on his bed, his hands extended to the person kneeling in front of him in a mirroring position. The breath caught and froze in Ahura’s throat when she saw that her husband’s partner was a man. …Not just any man, it was the courtesan whore, Adam! The Pharaoh’s hands slid across Adam’s chest, wrapping his arms around him and pulling him so Adam’s back was flush with his own chest. Adam was gasping, his head tilting back to rest against the other man’s shoulder as his hips rotated and drove into Adam quickly and precisely, and again and again too many times to count. Adam’s hands reached back, grappling as one gripped the Pharaoh’s thigh, tugging him in harder a little bit with each plunge. The Pharaoh, gasping and moaning, tilted his head down to kiss hotly down the exposed skin of Adam’s neck. Adam whimpered, tilting his head more as the other man’s tongue licked out against his skin, and Adam’s hips joined in the other’s movements until they moved as one.

“M-Meraten!” Adam gasped, groaning loudly. Ahura had to throw her hands over her mouth to hide her gasp when she heard the name.

“A-agh….Adam, gods..”

She watched only for a moment longer, as the Pharaoh’s hands slid down to Adam’s hips to grip them for purchase, and then the two of them arching into each other as they worked together to reach their peaks. Then, Ahura could bear it no longer. She turned and rushed silently from the room. She left the basket with the guards, and told them to give it to the Pharaoh when he emerged, and to tell him she’d left it for him.

 

After he came, Adam’s body grew alarmingly weak, and the Pharaoh helped lower him down onto the bed. Adam wasn’t sure if he’d been imagining how he’d seemed to be feeling weaker lately.

“You’re sure you have never bedded men before?” Adam asked with a smile and an arched, inquisitive eyebrow. “Because for myself being your first, you know damn well how to do it.”

“Well keep in mind, you and I have had rather large amounts of practice by now.”

“True,” Adam replied with a smirk. He looked over the huge windows that lined the far wall of the Pharaoh’s bedchambers. The moon was bright and full, and moonlight streamed into the room. Adam slowly sat up in the bed and reached for his robes that had been discarded towards the foot of the bed. Adam slid them on as he stood up, but didn’t bother doing them up at all in the front. He glided over to the window, just looking out into the night sky. Adam let himself wonder – for only a moment – whether Kris was looking up at the same moon right now too.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Adam murmured in a hushed voice.

“Yes, it is,” the Pharaoh responded, even though his eyes were fixed on Adam’s form rather than the night sky.

Only a moment later, Adam suddenly doubled over, coughing violently. Concern flashed onto the Pharaoh’s face immediately, and he struggled to his feet from the bed and quickly stepped into an undergarment so he wouldn’t be completely bare.

“Are you alright?!” The Pharaoh rushed over to Adam, resting his hands on Adam’s shoulders. Adam couldn’t speak because of the hacking, continuous cough, but it began to fade after a few moments.

“I-I’m fine,” Adam said with a forced smile, waving his hand in the air. But as he did so, his attention was drawn back to his hand. There was blood against his palm. That was the same palm he’d used to cover his cough. Before Adam could try to hide it, the Pharaoh’s hands shot out to catch Adam’s wrist. His eyes crinkled with concern when he saw the blood.

“I should arrange for you to see a physician.”

“No, no it’s alright. I’m alright.” Adam pulled his hand away, and closed it into a fist to hide the sight of the blood. “That’s not necessary.” His head was spinning, heart pulsing erratically from the sight of the blood.

“Adam, don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you’ve been coughing all the time lately. And it’s not just a normal cough.”

“And what would you know about that?” Adam snapped, his shocked, fear-ridden mind speeding ahead of his mouth before he could think of his words.

“Not much,” the Pharaoh replied softly, “Which is why I want you to see a doctor.”

Adam’s voice grew soft again, “I thank you for your concern, but please, don’t bother. I’ll be fine.” Adam didn’t want to bring any complications into his and the Pharaoh’s arrangement, and whatever it was that was plaguing Adam, would indeed be a complication if it was precisely identified. Plus, Adam didn’t want a physician bringing any added attention on him or causing trouble with the slave keeper or Lady Merrick. The last reason Adam was hesitant to admit, was that he felt frightened to stare his ailment straight in the face. He knew it was serious. But as long as it remained nothing more than a nameless cough and occasional spells of weakness, Adam could act like it wasn’t there.

 

“We must speak with you, now!” Ahura hissed to Lady Merrick from where she was standing behind the woman’s throne. She and the Pharaoh’s other two wives knew they were interrupting some meeting, but this was too important to wait.

“Good gods, Ahura, what is it?!” Lady Merrick demanded as she got up from her throne and turned towards her. She was surprised for a moment to see that her brother’s other two wives, Layla and Nesa, were huddled behind Ahura. It was rare for the three of them to be able to stand being in the same room together. Ahura pulled Lady Merrick aside, and the four women stepped out into a more private corner of the throne room where no one else could hear their conversation.

“We have a problem, a serious, serious problem,” Ahura stated. Nesa, the young one who was only seventeen, had mist accumulating in her eyes.

“Stop being such a child, Nesa!” Layla hissed to her, instead of trying to comfort her.

“You’re upset too! Don’t deny it!” Nesa said in a teary voice.

“What’s going on?” Lady Merrick asked, turning to Ahura - the oldest and wisest of the three.

“Not only are our relationships with our husband suddenly compromised, but it’s possible that our Pharaoh is being controlled.”

“What do you mean?”

Ahura took a deep breath, closing her eyes and steadying herself as if she needed some kind of physical support for what she was about to divulge. She spoke in a grim, serious whisper, “Last night was one of mine with the Pharaoh. After we spoke with the Assyrian ambassadors, I was expecting us to retire. But he told me he wasn’t feeling well, and was in grave need of rest. Obviously, I understood.”

Layla suddenly snorted, interrupting Ahura. “Understood? You threw a downright fit. I was humiliated being in the same room as you.”

Ahura shot her a piercing glare before continuing. “To try and help him feel better, I went to the kitchens to collect some medicinal foods for him. Then I went to his chambers, expecting to be allowed in because he has never once locked himself in his chambers and not given me permission to see him. But when I got to his chambers, his guards wouldn’t let me in. He had instructed them no one was allowed to see him. I assumed this was because he was so in need of rest. I was able to convince the guards to let me in, just to leave the meal for him. When I … stepped inside, I saw something awful. There was another in his bed with him. And do you know who it was? It was that..-that filthy street whore, Adam, you had brought here as punishment for what he did to your husband! The Pharaoh had him in his bed! And let me tell you, the way they were…touching, was not that of strangers. They were familiar, intimate. The Pharaoh certainly was not the least bit weak or ill. He made an excuse from the time he’s allotted to spend with me, because he’d chosen rather to fornicate with that whore!”

Lady Merrick’s face appeared to have practically turned red with rage as she listened to Aruha’s story. Her fisted hands were shaking slightly.

“Oh, and I forgot to worst part in the whole mess!” Ahura continued quickly. “During their…relations…Adam called him Meraten.”

Layla and Nesa both had to cover horrified gasps.

“You left out that part!” Layla hissed.

“H-his first name….he doesn’t even let us call him that,” Nesa whimpered.

“I noticed, Nesa,” Ahura snapped at the young girl. She turned back to Lady Merrick. “This could be horrific! We don’t know how long this has been going on, or how much influence Adam has weaseled over him. At this rate, the Pharaoh could name him an equivalent to Chief Wife instead of one of us! It is within the Pharaoh’s power to give the position to anyone.” Ahura said with a frown, “Just because we are the labeled candidates no longer means we are the only ones.”

“You’re jumping to silly conclusions,” Layla said firmly. “You’re frightened. Stop being ridiculous.”

Ahura tightened her jaw and did not reply, but she turned back to Lady Merrick, waiting for the woman’s reaction to this development. “He cannot be permitted to pull our husband away from us, and thieve his attention.”

“I am at a loss for what it is that gives that whore so much clout. But he will not do to my brother what he did to my husband. He may have already gotten into the Pharaoh’s bed, but he will be stopped there,” Lady Merrick said, each word filled with rage. “Who knows what heinous things he plans to coerce from the Pharaoh. There will be an end to him!”

 

The Pharaoh had to take several days’ leave in order to travel to the southern border and measure the border threat for himself. Late one night when Adam had already been asleep in his own bed, there had been a knock on his door. When Adam had trudged over and opened it, the Pharaoh had been there, fully dressed.

“I must leave, early in the morning,” the Pharaoh told him, matter of factly. “For the southern border.”

“Oh.” Adam pulled his sleep robes tighter around himself against the cold air coming in through the door, and he stepped aside so the Pharaoh could come into his room and close the door. “You’ll return soon, though. Won’t you?”

“Yes. Only a few days.” He cupped Adam’s face between his hands and kissed him deeply. Adam laid his hands on the taller man’s shoulders, returning the kiss.

“I’ll see you,” the Pharaoh murmured as he pulled away from Adam.

“Yes, make it soon. Be well.”

The Pharaoh left, and Adam fell back into bed. He curled up under the blankets and closed his eyes. In those moments just before sleep overtook his consciousness, he wished sincerely that he didn’t have to play this role. Kris’ face danced in front of his closed eyes like a ghost – a memory, a desire – an unspoiled dream that taunted him as it remained outside his grasp. It hurt too much to bear.

 

Lady Merrick had a plan. She knew she and the Pharaoh’s wives had to act carefully. If Adam had too close of a relationship with the Pharaoh, the four of them could all remove themselves from his favor if they brought about needless abuse to Adam. But Lady Merrick had thought on it and knew what to do.

Despite everything, Adam had pride. His unstainable pride was what made him so infuriating. But she would use this to her advantage. She pushed her way into Adam’s room that evening, while he had servants around him, primping and beautifying him for that night’s banquet.

“You’re to have a new job tonight,” Lady Merrick said briskly, standing in front of him.

“Oh? What’s that,” Adam asked, disinterested. A servant girl was carefully curling the front strands of his hair, and he focused on trimming his nails instead of looking at the woman standing in front of him.

“You’re going to help serve food.”

“And here I was expecting it to be your latest method of torture,” Adam said dismissively, still not looking at her as he blew dust from his nails.

“You’ll have one rule though. Your dirty hands are not to touch the food, only the gods know where they’ve been. So, I’m afraid you’ll have to serve the food in your mouth.” She smirked, as Adam’s eyes finally cut up towards her, glowering. “Will that be a problem?”

“Aside from the thorn in my side shaped like you, I have none.”

“Good. I expect nothing less than your best work.”

“I never give anything less.”

 

The evening wasn’t all that bad for Adam. He was so determined, so focused on not giving Lady Merrick the satisfaction of an indignant outburst on his part, that he was willing to put up with virtually anything. It was clear that she’d given him this new, degrading job in attempt to get him to act up in objection. Adam figured her motivation was just so she could have the chance the beat him back into his place.

Adam had to walk around the table with trays in his hands. When a guest wanted something, he’d have to approach them on his knees and present the food to them in his mouth. It was awful, but not the most horrid thing he’d ever done. Adam did his best to command the new job, though. When the person asked for something clearly just to spite him, he’d toss the food haphazardly on the table with a toss of his head, then get up, turn his back on them, and stalk away. And if the person asked nicely enough, Adam would move into their laps like a cat and slip the food directly into their mouths, along with deep, tongue kisses. By halfway through the night, he was moving around the table with a smirk on his face as Lady Merrick grew more and more impatient-looking up in her throne.

After watching the evening’s proceedings, Ahura got up from her throne and went over to talk to Lady Merrick.

“We’re not getting anything from him,” she whispered, even though the Pharaoh’s large throne was empty for the night.

“Don’t fret, my dear. He might be perfectly comfortable in his job for now. But I have something in my back pocket that I’ll be prodding him with tomorrow evening. Even with his arrogance, he won’t be able to ignore it.”

Ahura looked unconvinced, but there was nothing for her to do but wait and see what it was the other woman was planning.

 

Adam wasn’t looking forward to a second night with his new ‘job’. It was bearable but he had almost had it with being Lady Merrick’s amusing lapdog. But in the evening, he went out to the grand hall with a seamless smile on his face, flawlessly done up, and his clothes pressed. Tonight’s banquet was one being held for the lords, ladies, and other wealthy people whose allegiance the royal family valued. Adam was prepared for a whole table full of stuck up, supercilious pricks. However, there was one stuck up, supercilious prick in attendance whose presence Lady Merrick had arranged and Adam would not be able to ignore.

Adam licked his way into a young woman’s mouth in order to pass her a morsel with his tongue. She laughed, delighted. Adam got up and continued on his way down the table. He dropped a piece of meat on some lord’s plate, and as he moved away, the man’s hand slid up his thigh. Adam’s face crinkled in distaste, and before he danced away, Adam tipped the tray in his hands the slightest bit so some of the grease pooled below the meat trickled onto the man. Adam prayed that Lady Merrick would not put his intimate company up for auction tonight after the meal.

Adam reached the far end of the table, and just as he was turning to walk back down the table, a hand shot out and caught his arm. His eyes narrowed, but then he heard the voice of the person whom the hand belonged to, and his heart seemed to stop.

“Don’t leave just yet, doll.”

Adam would recognize that slimy voice anywhere. Before he even turned to look, he knew who it was. Adam shifted around, breaking his arm from the man’s grasp, and rage filled him as he saw Lord Dallon sitting there, dressed in disgustingly fine robes, his hair slicked, and a sneering grin on his face. “Such a shame, Adam. I don’t see your beautiful face about town anymore.”

“You…” Adam utterly seethed, barely able to speak without trembling with anger. “You bastard.”

“Come now, aren’t you going to feed me?”

Adam smashed the food trays onto the floor. The metal made a horrible crashing sound.

“You..had me taken away from Kris.”

The images, the memories started flashing before Adam’s eyes like they were happening right now before him. He remembered the day he’d first met Kris – on the roads in the center of town. His dingy, thin clothes had been soaked through with blood and dirt. Adam remembered all too vividly the feel of Kris’ marred, bloodied skin, of the gashes and sores as Adam had cleaned and bandaged them. The look on Kris’ face – the terror – when Dallon had come to the tent seeking Adam’s company and there had been the risk he would find Kris there. The way Kris had been stunned and shocked when Adam gave him a comfortable place to sleep, bought him new clothes, because his master had never done any such things for him. Most of Kris’ life had been horrid, miserable, and painful, all because of the man sitting before Adam right now.

“Oh, it seems I did. But you should be thanking me, darling. Who wants to spend their time around a worthless little rat? More than useless, that Kris. He’d be better off dead, then at least he wouldn’t be a nuisance.”

Adam launched himself at the man. Nails scratched across his face, fists beat him. Beyond the bounds of fury and barely even able to see through his blinding rage, Adam did all the desperate damage he could do before the hands of guards were towing him backwards, pulling him away.

“I’ll kill you!! I’ll kill you for what you did to him!!” Adam screamed, feet kicking out to reach the man one last time. Fighting and struggling all the way, Adam was dragged out of the grand hall by the guards.

Meanwhile, Lady Merrick sat in her throne, looking as pleased as could be as she viewed the scene.

“Chain him in the holding cell,” she commanded, with no one in the palace to stop her.

 

Adam had been in this room before. It was a dark, dingy cell adjacent to the slave keeper’s room. The few times before when the slave keeper claimed Adam had broken some ‘rule’, Adam had been taken here and whipped. There was a single shackle that would be fastened around one of his wrists, that was bolted to the grimy stone wall.

Adam had heard the condescending order Lady Merrick had given to have Adam locked in here, and he was sure that all of it – his new ‘job’, Dallon’s appearance – had been to get him to dissent.

The door of the cell creaked open, and Adam looked over, expecting to see the slave keeper stepping inside with the whip uncoiled and dangling at his side. Instead, he was surprised when he saw Lady Merrick.

“What are you doing wasting your time here? Just have the slave keeper dole out your petty punishment so I can leave this hellhole.”

“I’m afraid it won’t be that simple this time,” she said, moving farther into the dingy cell. “You attacked a Lord. You could have caused him serious bodily harm.”

“He’s the one who’d be better off dead!” Adam bellowed, his anger flowing over again as Lord Dallon’s words regarding Kris seared through Adam’s mind again. Lady Merrick shook her head, and ‘tut’ed disapprovingly.

“You must be taught propriety and discipline. You’re fortunate, that a street-rat whore like you was able to receive such a prestigious place within the palace. Another outburst of such insolence will not be tolerated.”

Adam glared, about to bite back a reply, when the cell door once again screeched open. He was even more surprised to see the Pharaoh’s three wives glide through the door and into the room. What in the world were they doing down here?

They shuffled over to Lady Merrick, and the tallest, oldest one started sharing a whispered conversation with her. All four of the women kept glancing sideways at Adam every few seconds, uneasily. Suddenly, it all clicked in Adam’s mind.

He started laughing. “Oh, I see it now! I understand! Of course, Lady Merrick would take any opportunity to have me disciplined, but this isn’t just about my ‘unproprietal’ behavior towards that vermin Dallon. You three are the real ones behind this. You needed a basis for having me chained up in here, when really, you just want me to bend to your little power-hungry whims. You’re jealous, and your chances at power threatened, because I’m stealing your husband away.”

The three young women all tensed, all seeming suddenly frozen at Adam’s brash words. The older two were fixing him with glares meant to kill. But Adam was certainly not in any state of mind to just sit there silently. If they thought they could bend him, break him, control him so he wouldn’t get in the way of their greedy desires, he would turn their presumption right back at them.

“You’re jealous,” he repeated, belabored, and with an almost feral grin on his face. “You all had plans of how to be the Pharaoh’s favorite, how to reap all the benefits of his love. But now he’s paying more attention to someone else.” The eldest wife’s eyes were, by now, looking so tightened and angry, that they might fly from her head at any moment. It only drove Adam on, “How many nights do each of you spend with the Pharaoh? What are your allotted times? It’s only two or three nights in the moon cycle for each of you, isn’t it? I would know, he told me. So while you spend two or three nights with him in every moon cycle, I spend hours with him every day. Whenever I please, I get to kiss him, touch him, suck him, make love with him. And you three can keep me chained up and have me beaten, whipped, whatever you like, but you can’t change that.” He felt sick satisfaction at the horrified, stricken expressions on each of their faces. But Adam wouldn’t let them think they could just beat him down out of their way when he started intervening in their self-serving plans. They had taken too much from him already.

That was when the slave keeper came into the cell, his whip in his hand.

“Don’t give him reprieve until you’ve reached his very limit,” Ahura commanded the slave keeper immediately, fury in her voice. And then, like it was something so horrific, they couldn’t bear to offend their eyes with the sight, all of the women turned to leave.

“What?” Adam shouted as they reached the door. “You give the order and then can’t even bear to see it carried out?” The youngest of the girls paused, hesitating in the doorway. One of her older sister-in-laws gave her a hard shove to the back, pushing her on so the rest of them could follow. The door slammed shut behind them.

There was no sense in resisting. All there was to do was hold onto his esteem. Adam shifted wordlessly so his back was turned towards the old, hunched slave keeper, the chain binding his wrist to the wall clanking. Adam was still in his performance garb, so his back was already bare and exposed.

“We’ll start with twenty five,” the man said. Adam could practically hear the smirk in his voice, and the cracking sound of the whip smacking the floor as he unrolled it.

Adam grit his teeth, fear beginning to course through him. He had never before been given more than ten lashes at a time, and just that had pushed his endurance to its limit. With no more time to think on it, the first blow was delivered. Adam nearly bit his tongue in half as he held in a shout. As the second blow struck, Lady Merrick’s face flashed before Adam’s eyes. His hatred, his rage overpowered even the fiery brands across his back.

By the time the wounds on Adam’s back had accumulated past fifteen, he had bitten down on his upper arm, eyes shut and his teeth squeezing tighter rather than make a single noise of pain.

Once the count finally reached twenty-five, Adam’s back was bleeding like someone had drawn designs on him with a knife. Adam was slumped forward against the wall, chest heaving and feeling as if he had no strength. The door to the cell screeched open again, but Adam had neither the strength nor the will to look up to see who had come or gone. He found out anyway, when Lady Merrick’s voice came from near his left ear.

“Swear that you will never seek or take up the Pharaoh’s company again. You will never again attempt whatever it is you’re trying to cheat out of him. Agree now, and I’ll have you cleaned up and sent back to your room. Refuse, and I’ll keep you down here. These beatings will be regular, until you see the vile errors of your ways.”

Between his deep, labored breathing, Adam laughed softly. “You talk big, but we both know you don’t have the power to do that. The Pharaoh will return any day now, and you know he can’t find out about this. He knew you’d hurt me, and he would have your head,” he said, voice weak and cracking.

“You overestimate your importance,” she hissed, but the anger in her tone reasserted for Adam that he was right.

“And yet you trouble yourself so with your attempts to subdue me.”

She made a frustrated sound as she turned and swept out of the room. The slamming of the cell door reverberated between the walls, but Adam still felt triumphant.

Minutes, hours passed. There was no sound, no disturbances, and all Adam had to think on was the coursing pain from his back. He knew there was no chance of bleeding to death from these wounds, but gods, it felt as if that were the case. It was hard to breathe, hard to see, hard to think through the overwhelming sting. He had to do something, had to grab onto something, to keep him from losing his mind.

Even though just the effort was exhausting, Adam started drawing a portrait of Kris in his mind. In one of the seldom times since he’d been brought to the palace, Adam dropped the dividers, and let all of his memories and feelings for Kris flood through him. Looking into his precious memories, Adam dabbed the perfect shade of golden brown onto the hair of Kris’ portrait in his mind. Adam slowly constructed his face – paying special care to his shining smile. After slaving over his portrait, the perfect, radiant image he had of Kris before his eyes seemed to bathe the whole cell in sunlight. Adam held onto it, attached himself to it like an anchor. It kept him from slipping under the waves of pain. It tamed the waves to be smaller, more bearable. Adam clutched the image to himself like he would a raft in the middle of the sea.

Adam’s attention was torn away from Kris when the cell door opened again. Adam expected the worst – Lady Merrick back to threaten him more, or the slave keeper returning with his whip. Adam was utterly shocked to see it wasn’t any of the two, but rather one of the Pharaoh’s wives – the littlest one. She stepped inside tentatively, and closed the door as softly as she could. Adam saw she was holding a bowl in her hands. She looked at him, and Adam clearly saw trepidation in her young eyes. But she took a few small steps towards him, and then Adam saw that the bowl in her hands was filled with stew.

“I-I….noticed that no one brought you food, but…y-you’ve been down here for a long while.”

Despite his shock, Adam said, “You know, I’m not some wild animal who’s going to charge you. Don’t look so frightened.” The girl’s hands had been shaking around the bowl, but the shaking quelled a little. She moved closer to him, and then kneeled down in front of him.

“Do you want some?” she asked softly, holding out the bowl a little towards him.

Of course, Adam’s mind raced immediately to poison. Maybe it was Lady Merrick’s idea, and she’d sent this girl so Adam wouldn’t suspect. Adam looked at her, trying to see her thoughts, her motives. Her eyes dropped down to the ground.

“Why are you doing this?” Adam asked after a few moments of tense silence. “I’ve been sharing your husband’s bed.”

“I-I know,” she said softly, yet some determination seeping into her voice, “But…whatever it is you’re doing, for whatever reason…it’s not worse than what they’re doing to you now. You don’t deserve this,…no one does.” She slowly looked up to Adam’s face again, and lifted the bowl again. “Please have some of this. I had to sneak it from the kitchens, so Ahura and Layla wouldn’t see...”

Adam’s mind was still racing, still trying to decide whether or not he should trust this girl. But unlike Lady Merrick, or the other two wives, her eyes looked clear of malevolence. If Adam was to trust his reading of her, he would trust her.

She held up the bowl towards his lips. Adam’s eyes jumped from her, to the bowl of stew, back to her, before he finally opened his lips a little bit. She carefully placed the lip of the bowl at his mouth, and tipped just a little of the stew out. It tasted like heaven on Adam’s parched throat, and he didn’t realize until now how hungry he really was. She tipped some more stew past his lips for him.

“Lady Merrick and Ahura are convinced you have nothing but evil plans with our Pharaoh,” Nesa said when she lowered the bowl a little as Adam chewed and swallowed another mouthful. “But…really, how would we know? What is it that your purpose is?”

Adam’s eyes strayed to the ground again.

“To be freed from this place,” he told her softly. He rattled the chain that bound his wrist. “I don’t think I have to explain to you why.” Adam lifted his other, free arm, and reached out slowly for the bowl, watching her face for permission. She nodded and placed the bowl in his hand. Adam quickly gulped down a few more mouthfuls of the stew.

“What about you?” Adam asked once his mouth was empty. “What is it that you want from the Pharaoh? Your ‘sisters’ seem to all want power.”

“…want from the Pharaoh?” she echoed, blinking her eyes as if she didn’t understand. “What do you mean? He doesn’t have to give me anything. … I was nervous when I heard two years ago that I’d been chosen to marry him, but he’s been so kind and wonderful to me.” Adam’s lips raised a little in amusement as the girl’s cheeks grew a light red shade. “He’s compassionate, and good, and so handsome, and…” she trailed off, and her face brightened a little more.

“..and not too bad of a lover?” Adam finished for her, full-on grinning now.

“Y-yes, that too…” she said, shaking her head and lightly smacking at her cheeks as if she could make the blush go away. It seemed to Adam that the Pharaoh had been mistaken about one of his wives. Not all of them were chasing self-serving desires.

It didn’t take Adam long to finish the rest of the stew. When he lowered the empty bowl from his mouth, he told her fervidly, “Thank you.”

She nodded as she took the bowl back from his hand. “I wish I could help you with your back…but I wouldn’t know the first thing to do, I’d only make it worse. And it could be dangerous to summon a doctor because if Lady Merrick or Ahura or Layla see, you could get punished worse…”

“I’ll be fine. Your stew was a great help. Thank you again. I had thought that all three of the Pharaoh’s wives were cruel and heartless, but I’m glad I was wrong,” Adam said, smiling slightly.

“And I’m glad I was proven right in my thinking that you’re not as bad as they’ve been making you out to be,” the girl said as she stood up again. “Also, my name is Nesa.”

“You should leave, Nesa, before someone sees you aiding me.” Nesa nodded, and slid the empty bowl under her robes to hide it as she left.

 

Lady Merrick kept Adam locked up in the cell for the next two days while the Pharaoh was away. When the slave keeper came each day with his whip, he would add a few more lashes on to the total number. But after so much agony, there was a point where the pain simply couldn’t grow any worse. Lady Merrick only had food brought to him once – a single bread roll. Adam thanked the gods endlessly for the blessing of Nesa, since she snuck into his cell regularly with food for him. Once, she came not with food, but rather a soaked cloth to clean his back a little bit. She had said she wanted to bandage the wounds, but she couldn’t give him any treatment that would later be visible, and then he’d be punished for. But at the very least, her cleaning kept away infection.

“I’m sorry I don’t have the power to have you released,” she had told him as she dabbed at the angry gashes across Adam’s back. “But everyone in the palace is like their own separate entity, everyone has a certain degree of power, and a certain number of their own guards. Lady Merrick is above me and the other wives, and below only the Pharaoh himself.”

“Don’t apologize. You’ve done too much for me already,” Adam had told her.

Fortunately, Adam didn’t have to suffer in that dark cell for too long. In the morning of the third day, a servant came into the cell with a key to unlock the shackle around his wrist. “The Pharaoh sent a messenger, he is to return today,” the servant told him as he unlocked the shackle and released Adam. But before Adam could return to his room, Lady Merrick stepped into his way. She glared at him menacingly, and poked a finger in his face.

“If you tell the Pharaoh a word about this, I’ll make sure the only ‘nights off’ you’ll have are when you’ve got a single digit number of takers a night.”

“Have any of your attempts to threaten me succeeded so far? Go ahead and cue the line of people for me to fuck. I’ll take them two at a time.” Adam shoved past the woman, sure that he might just strangle her if he remained in her presence for another second.

Back in his room, a bath had never felt so much like heaven. He had never considered his room in the palace anything like a home, but now he’d never been happier to be back in it.

 

As Adam had expected, one of the Pharaoh’s personal servants knocked on his door in the early evening, with the Pharaoh’s request to see him. Only a few minutes later, Adam was sneaking into the Pharaoh’s bedchambers. The Pharaoh was sitting back in the middle of his huge bed, with scrolls spread out over his lap. As soon as he heard Adam come in, he smiled and pushed the scrolls aside.

“It’s been far too long since I’ve seen your face,” the Pharaoh said, sitting up as Adam came over towards him with a smile.

“As it has been for me. How did your travels to the southern border fare?” Their conversation was put on hold as Adam reached the side of the bed and leaned down to kiss the other man deeply, his arms twining around the Pharaoh’s shoulders and the Pharaoh’s hands finding Adam’s waist.

“Messy,” the Pharaoh said with a sigh between kissing Adam again. “It’s worse than I thought. With every coming day, war looks less and less avoidable. But I didn’t want your company in order to bore you with politics.” The Pharaoh lifted a hand to rest it against the side of Adam’s neck, and stroke his thumb over Adam’s jaw.

They kissed again and again,…countless times as Adam crawled onto the bed and into the Pharaoh’s arms. They just kissed for a while, getting reacquainted with each other’s lips, tongues. After a while Adam pulled back a little, enough so he could hook a finger through the ties of his robes and undo them. He slid his own robes off his shoulders and off. And immediately, the Pharaoh reached for him again. He pulled Adam close, kissing him deeply, longingly. Adam pressed close to him, and the Pharaoh wrapped his arms around Adam. Adam suddenly flinched as one of the man’s hands landed directly across the slashes on his back. In the last few minutes, somehow Adam had forgotten about them. But then, Adam quickly pulled away, so the Pharaoh’s hand was removed.

“Adam…what was that?” the Pharaoh asked right away, concerned. Adam bit his lip and looked away, unsure what would be the best thing to do. Before he could decide, the Pharaoh scooted forward and placed his hands at Adam’s sides, turning him around gently so the Pharaoh could see his back. The man inhaled sharply, horrified when he saw the crisscrossing, messy, vast network of angry red lesions all across Adam’s back. Only a few seconds later, Adam pulled away from the other man’s hands, humiliated by his scarring imperfections and not wanting to share either the wounds or his own timidities with the other man. The Pharaoh sensed enough. He reached out for Adam’s discarded robes, and placed them over Adam’s shoulders to hide the marks. Adam clutched the robes tightly around himself, and turned away from the Pharaoh.

“Adam, … you have to tell me who did this to you.” The Pharaoh’s voice remained soft, but it held the promise of destruction to whomever Adam placed blame on. Adam took a deep breath and covered his face with his hands for a moment. There was too much to say, far too much than could be said simply.

“Adam.”

“The Lady Merrick.”

The Pharaoh fell silent for a moment, clearly shocked. “My sister? …Why?”

“She thinks I’m trying to do with you the same that I did to her husband.”

The Pharaoh was silent for a few seconds. Adam was still facing the opposite way, but he was sure he could feel the other man’s eyes watching his back.

“She is convinced you seduced Lord Merrick, for money, his status, and other related things. But … I know that’s not what you’re seeking from me. So something doesn’t fit.” He moved forward a little, and placed a hand on Adam’s shoulder. Adam tensed before he relaxed into the touch. The Pharaoh continued softly, “Please, tell me. You’re keeping things from me.”

“It’s a long story, and you won’t like a bit of it. I don’t want to displease you, Your Majesty.”

“Stop, you know you don’t have to bother with formalities. And how can I be a just and good ruler if I don’t seek the truth? Adam, please, tell me what my sister won’t.”

Adam finally shifted on the bed, turning and sitting down facing the other man. Adam still had his robes drawn around himself.

“Before I start, I have to ask what your personal opinion of Lord Merrick is,” Adam said.

“My opinion is that my sister thinks too much of him, and she could have married a much better man.”

Adam breathed out in relief. The Pharaoh’s reaction to Adam’s story was all hinging on whether he, like Lady Merrick, thought the Lord Merrick was virtuous and perfect. Reassured that the Pharaoh was not similarly deluded, Adam went on.

“You know Lord Merrick’s messenger boy? David?” The Pharaoh nodded. “Well, …by now it was a long, long time ago,…he showed up one day at my tent, asking for me. He was carrying a letter from his master, Lord Merrick. I had never heard the name before. I usually only took customers within my own home, where I had my guard looking out for me. But in this Lord Merrick’s letter, he said that he had heard my name repeatedly throughout town, and that I was the best at my profession. He extended an invitation for me to come stay at his estate for a weekend. He offered a ridiculously huge sum of money as payment. Only a fool would have declined an offer with that large of a price tag, so I told David he could bring my answer back to his master, that I accept his offer.

“I knew nothing about Lord Merrick or what he would be like. I was a bit uneasy about going where I didn’t have my guard’s protection, but I went anyway. I showed up at Lord Merrick’s estate and was completely blown away by the grandeur. Over the next few days, he treated me ridiculously well, with multiple-course meals, clothes, and other gifts. And of course, he kept me in his bed late each night. I left, thinking he was just some rich, old Lord who got his kicks from young bedmates. I went home, and for a while nothing else came of it.

“But several days later, I had royal guards tearing down my front door. I had no idea why they were there, or what they could want with me. Lady Merrick was with them, and that’s when I first discovered, courtesy of her. Not only was Lord Merrick married, but his wife was the most powerful woman in Egypt. She had somehow found out about the time her husband spent with me, and he, to save his own skin, had spun the tale for her about how I had seduced him, conned him out of money, expensive jewelry, and fine clothes. But every single thing was his doing! His idea! He coerced me with his money!”

Adam got up from the bed, quickly walking over to stand before the windows to hide the frustrated, furious tears stinging his eyes as he relived once again, the story that had caused so much of his suffering.

“Instead of admitting to his wife that he had invited a prostitute’s company, Lord Merrick framed you,” the Pharaoh spoke softly as each word of Adam’s story slowly sunk in.

“Yes,” Adam murmured. “That’s exactly what happened. And recently, your wives and Lady Merrick started conspiring when they somehow found out about our meetings. They’re convinced I’m trying to coerce trivial, menial things out of you too. The…lashes to my back were their attempts to get me to swear never to seek audience with you again. Lady Merrick kept me locked in that damned cell for days. I probably would have starved, but that one wife of yours, Nesa, snuck in to bring me food. She seems to be the only once with sense, and realized that I was the one being wronged, not them, or you.”

Adam stared out through the windows. He heard the shifting sounds of the Pharaoh getting up from the bed, and walking over to Adam, to stand behind him.

“I understand you have every reason to want to leave here. Especially considering the fact that you should never have been forced to come here in the first place,” he said, speaking to Adam in a soft voice, “But, … I wish you would stay.”

Adam’s heart leaped excitedly into his throat at the first half of the Pharaoh’s statement, then crashed straight to his feet at the second half. Adam looked distraught, wondering if he would really be cursed like this – with his attempts to win over the Pharaoh backfiring in such a way. The other man took one of Adam’s hands, and turned Adam around to face him. Adam couldn’t bring himself to meet the taller man’s gaze.

The Pharaoh spoke to him gently, “You didn’t ever deserve the life you have now. And it will end. Adam, you’re genuine and true and unlike anyone else I’ve met before. Listen to me. I would give you everything within my power to give. There is a measured spot next to my throne where a second throne is to stand sometime in the future. It would stand above those of my wives, and that of my sister. It is the position I’m supposed to choose one of my wives for, it’s why they fight for my favor. But things would only be righted here if you had it. You would have power over the Merricks, over all who have wronged you. No one will disrespect you, or take advantage of you ever again. It would be a position similar to Chief Wife, in which you’d share my power.”

Adam stood completely and utterly frozen in disbelief. Now, his eyes were glued to the Pharaoh’s face, just staring as if searching for whether the man was serious or not, and whether he really meant what Adam thought he did. Whether he was really offering Adam the throne.

Once he realized that yes, the Pharaoh was very much serious, Adam turned back around towards the window. His tongue had knotted itself up, his mind had frozen in his shock.

“Have your justice here. What would you gain from leaving?”

The Pharaoh took hold of his hand again after he spoke, and turned Adam back around to him.

“Stay and rule with me.”

Adam stood still, dazed and his mind whirring to life and speeding ahead of him for a few staggering moments. Eventually, his eyes fell once again from the Pharaoh’s dazzling face. Adam again pulled his hands from the Pharaoh’s, and he turned and walked farther up to the window, all the way until he could rest his head against the windowpane, looking out into the night. He tied the front of his robes loosely.

“You may think that you care about me. Maybe even that you love me. But it’s only physical, and it’s only temporary,” Adam spoke, resigned. “If I stayed, by a few of the moon’s cycles, you would forget. Lust only excites the heart for so long.” Adam laid one of his hands against the window. “I have someone waiting for me, … someone who will never forget. He’s never touched me, never paid more attention to my body than to me. He loves me for me. I’m only happy when I’m with him. And I’m tired of being unhappy.” Adam’s breath created a foggy covering against the glass as he spoke. “I don’t want power. What would I gain from sitting above everyone else?

“Then, … you want nothing but to leave from here.”

Adam nodded, fearful of how the Pharaoh would react to Adam’s forthrightness. Adam could practically feel the weight in the air between them. Everything rided on this. If the Pharaoh refused him, Adam was lost forever.

“It won’t be easy to get you past all those guards my sister has stationed. But I will try. I will do whatever I can to have you freed.”

Adam turned again to face the other man, surprised by what he had just said.

The Pharaoh continued, “If you can plan to have this lover of yours come to the palace sometime late, late into the night when all are asleep, I’ll find some way to get you out to him. The two of you will travel away from here, and I’ll make sure there is never any reason in the future for even a single guard to seek you out.”

“You. … you would do that for me?” Adam questioned softly, the Pharaoh’s words clashing with all the things Adam had thought he’d learned about men in his experiences.

“It is only what’s right,” said the Pharaoh with a small smile. “But. …. before you make any great escapes..” one of the Pharaoh’s hands slid upwards, to brush fingers across Adam’s jaw. “Spend one last night with me.” The man standing before Adam was the ruler, and the most powerful man of Egypt. Yet, he asked the question for Adam’s consent, for his will. There were no commands behind the request.

Adam finally turned and moved into the other man’s arms, kissing him deeply. When the Pharaoh peeled Adam’s robes from his body, he made sure not to brush his hands against Adam’s back and cause him any pain.

In the bed, their bodies molded and rocked and fused. Adam could not keep discipline over his mind. Despite the fact that he’d never allowed himself to do this in the past, now, the only thing flooding through his mind with the pleasure was a boy with golden brown hair and a smile Adam had missed so painfully, it was like air.

Kris, I’m coming home to you.

 

The Pharaoh’s advice was that, for now, continuing palace life as it was would be the best course of action. Lady Merrick wouldn’t be suspicious of any forming plans for Adam’s escape. The Pharaoh had told Adam that if they knew Kris would be waiting outside at a certain time at a certain night, the Pharaoh and a few of his guards would fight through Lady Merrick’s guards to get Adam out and to Kris. Adam would be free, and conflict within the royal family would be limited. The Pharaoh knew war with the Assyrians was only a matter of time, and so he preferred this discrete plan. By the time Lady Merrick knew of Adam’s escape scheme, he would already be gone, and the Pharaoh’s future order that Adam was never to be searched for or any attempts at capture made, would keep Lady Merrick powerless to dissent.

The next morning when the royal family was seeing petitioners, Adam stood off at the edge of the throne room, watching the proceedings by peeking out from behind a pillar. He knew sometime soon, David would make his way in to deliver messages to Lord Merrick. When Adam finally saw David walk up to his master, kneel, and hand him several scrolls, Adam crept forward just the slightest bit, being careful that no one else would see him. When David stood up and turned towards Adam’s direction, Adam waved his hand, beckoning David towards him and then quickly placing a finger over his lips to denote secrecy. David looked away from Adam immediately, and walked almost all the way out from the throne room before ducking behind the row of pillars, so no one would see him.

“Mister Adam!” David exclaimed when he went over to where Adam was standing. “I haven’t seen you in ages! What is it?”

“David, I really need your help. Could you do me a huge favor?” Adam asked, kneeling down towards David’s height as Adam produced a small, rolled up piece of parchment from inside his robes. “Do you remember the tent where Kris and I live?” David nodded immediately. “I need to get this to Kris,” Adam said as he placed the parchment in David’s hands. “It’s very, very important. But it’s also very secret. You’re the only one I can trust with this.”

David looked at the parchment in his hand and held it tightly. “It’s secret?”

Adam nodded. “No matter what, you can’t tell your master. He can’t know you’re delivering anything for me.”

David nodded, a serious expression on his little face as he tucked the parchment into a big outside pocket of his tunic. “You can count on me, Mister Adam! I’ll bring it to Kris right away, and I won’t tell no one.”

“Thank you, David.”

David flew forward and hugged Adam lightly around the neck before scurrying off towards the doors. Adam smiled as he walked back to his room. He was already imagining the joyous look on Kris’ face when he received Adam’s message.

 

“Kris! Come outside for a moment!”

Kris had been curled up in Adam’s bed with a book when he heard Michael’s yell for him. He set the book aside, crawled out from under Adam’s blankets, and shuffled out to the door of the tent. When Michael saw him, he pointed towards a figure approaching the tent from the distance.

Michael said, “Isn’t that Lord Merrick’s messenger boy?”

Kris squinted, trying to see him better, before he responded, “It looks like him.”

“If he’s carrying anything from that bastard lord, I’ll tear it to shreds and burn it,” Michael grumbled, crossing his arms.

When David approached, he ran directly up to Kris.

“Mister Kris! Adam sent me to deliver this to you. He said it was a secret.” David produced the rolled-up parchment from under his tunic and held it out to Kris.

“This is from Adam?” Kris asked as he took the scroll. David nodded, and Kris quickly unrolled the parchment. Michael hurried over to stand behind Kris, reading the message over his shoulder.

 

My dear Kris and Michael,

I finally have good news. I have been able to find an ally, although a rather unlikely one, the Pharaoh himself. I’ve had to sway him the same way I would any man, but I have found him to be a truly good man, and I trust he will be true to his word and help me escape. We’ve come up with a plan together. One of you must ride to the palace, the night of the lunar eclipse – exactly four nights from tonight. At precisely midnight, wait outside, before the main front gates. The Pharaoh’s guards will make a path for me through Lady Merrick’s guards at the doors, and get me out to you, where we’ll leave. The Pharaoh and I are keeping the plan under wraps, so everything should go smoothly. I wish I didn’t have to spend another minute within this wretched palace, but I think I can wait four more days. Once I leave, the Pharaoh will order that I’m never to be captured or searched for again, so all should be well for us to return home. I wait anxiously. Every minute here is torturous, when I know what I’m waiting for. Kris – I cannot wait to see you, and hold you in my arms again. I miss you more than I could say. But if you noticed, I’ve written this whole letter without any aid, thanks to your reading lessons.

Adam

 

As soon as he was done reading the words, Kris clutched the parchment close, hugging it to his chest.

“Michael, he said only one of us should go. I want it to be me.”

Michael nodded. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been expecting it, “That sounds fine. You’ll be more inconspicuous than me, anyway.”

“I have to get a horse…Have to get ready…” Kris muttered to himself in a daze, as he turned and went back inside, still holding the parchment tightly.

“I think he’s in shock,” Michael said with a little laugh. He looked back down towards David, smiling wide. “Thank you for bringing us this, kid. You did Adam a huge favor,” he said, patting David’s head once. David grinned. “You came a long way. You’re probably thirsty, right? Here, c’mon inside, I’ll get you something.”

Back in Adam’s room, Kris sat curled up with Adam’s message, reading it over and over again. He traced his fingertips over the ink, knowing that just shortly before, Adam’s hands had been moving over this same piece of parchment.

In the past weeks, Kris had spent most of his time huddled in Adam’s bed. Kris ached for when he would have the chance to touch and hold Adam for real – not just blankets that smelled like him.

 

There was a red blotch on the inside of Adam’s wrist. He’d noticed it when he got out of bed and was getting dressed. It could have been some kind of rash, but it was an odd shape. Adam rubbed at it a bit, but it didn’t go away. He pushed thoughts of it aside, as there were far more important things to dwell on.

Today was it. Finally – the last day he had to spend in the palace. Tonight was when he’d meet Kris or Michael outside, and would finally be free. Adam was grinning and dancing around his room as he got dressed, just from the thought of seeing Kris again.

The other harem boys and girls glared as Adam walked through the kitchens for his morning meal. Word had spread like wildfire about Adam’s intimacies with the Pharaoh. The three wives were sitting at one table in the back of the kitchens, and Ahura and Layla looked a second away from throwing their knives in his direction. His current spirits unable to be dampened, Adam grinned at them cheekily and wiggled his fingers in a half-wave. Nesa giggled softly to herself, and the other two’s glares swiveled over to her. Adam picked up a plate of food and on his way back to his room with his food, he asked the whole roomful of people watching him, “Lovely morning, isn’t it?” He laughed to himself at their shocked expressions as he left the kitchens.

Back in his room, Adam picked out the traveling robes from his closet he planned on wearing tonight. His cough had been lingering throughout the whole day, but he refused to let it bother him. He could picture it all perfectly. After the Pharaoh breaks through Lady Merrick’s guards, Kris would be there, sitting on the back of a horse, looking stunning. Adam would climb onto the horse behind him, and tilt Kris’ head back to kiss him deeply before they rode off. Then Adam would never, ever have to be anywhere near this damned palace again, and he and Kris would never be parted.

Before Adam could reach what he envisioned, he had to go through one last palace unpleasantry – entertaining at one more banquet. The Pharaoh several days before had already established to Lady Merrick that Adam was to be nothing more than an entertainer, and she could no longer force him to bed guests, or ‘serve’ food. Thanks to this, the evening looked bearable. Adam got himself dressed, and then checked out his back in the mirror. The slashes had scabbed over and healed a bit, and now were raised, dark pink marks. They were perfectly visible, but Adam knew they wouldn’t put anyone off. His usual servants combed and smoothed his hair, and painted makeup onto his face. He watched himself in the mirror, feeling excitement and triumph with the knowledge that this was the last time he would have to do this.

As he looked into the mirror, he was hit by a sudden spell of lightheadedness. He grappled for the edge of the table and gripped it tightly for the few seconds until the weakness passed. Similar feelings had been happening all day, but passing quickly. He shrugged them off.

When Adam was introduced that evening, he stepped up onto the table with a wide smirk. Seeing as this was his last night here, he might as well give it his all. He danced his way up and down the table. For the occasional attractive young man, Adam would give his glossed lips a few liberal licks as his hands would tangle in the man’s hair and he’d straddle his lap. Adam was almost having fun, knowing the end of this horrible lifestyle was in sight.

After pecking a kiss to a lady’s lips and tossing his head back as he stood up on the table again, a cough erupted from his throat that he couldn’t hold down. As inconspicuously as he could, he covered his mouth for a few seconds until it passed. Adam straightened up again immediately after, slipping back flawlessly into the rhythm of the music. But as he danced, in the next few seconds he suddenly felt his strength draining away. It seemed twice as difficult to lift his feet, to shift his hips. He felt his limbs growing heavy and sticky, but he did his best to fight the spell of weakness.

 

The Pharaoh was reclined in his throne during the banquet, speaking to petitioners or ambassadors. He kept up only sideways glances towards Adam, not wanting to pay him too much obvious attention, but also not wanting to miss any guests grabbing at him or attempting to hurt him. He noticed when Adam’s dancing started to slow and seem lethargic. His face grew concerned as he turned his attention down to the table.

“Wait a minute,” he told the man he’d been speaking to, dismissing him with a wave of his hand. He watched Adam continue to force himself to move, to dance just a minute longer, and the Pharaoh rose slowly from his throne.

 

Adam’s vision was starting to blur and swim. He felt as if he had smoked some kind of opiate – everything around him seemed suddenly thick and slow-moving. He could only see in a blur, but it looked as if the red spot on his wrist had tripled in size. He lost control of his limbs, and then his knees gave out and he went falling from the table. The Pharaoh had already rushed down from the dais, and he ran forward and caught Adam long before he hit the ground. Murmurings erupted from everyone in the room as the Pharaoh shifted Adam to cradle him carefully. The Pharaoh held his breath, counting the seconds between the soft, shallow breaths coming from between Adam’s parted lips. Adam’s head was limp, leaning against the Pharaoh’s shoulder and his eyes closed. Lady Merrick had stood up from her throne, looking horrified at the close attention the Pharaoh was paying to Adam’s health.

“Adam!” the Pharaoh said, shaking Adam lightly. He didn’t stir, or respond. His eyes stayed closed, and his breathing raspy and weak. The Pharaoh cursed softly as he turned from the table with Adam in his arms.

“Wait!” exclaimed the slave keeper as he ran out onto the throne dais, seeing what had happened. “But he’s not finished his work!” The Pharaoh whirled around with anger in his eyes, and the slave keeper took a fearful step backwards, knowing he had overstepped his boundaries.

“I don’t know who first gave you your position, but you’re a disgrace to my name,” the Pharaoh said hotly. “Consider yourself sacked. Don’t ever let me see your face again.”

He turned to carry Adam from the room. He brought Adam to his own private bedchambers, and laid him on the wide bed. Adam still didn’t stir. The Pharaoh frowned deeply, and touched Adam’s hair lightly.

He summoned his personal servants, and the several nurses that lived in the palace. He sent a messenger out to bring a doctor as soon as possible. The nurses only aided with childbirth, so a doctor was needed. The servants and nurses gathered around the bed, changing Adam out of the skimpy performance garb and into loose, comfortable robes that actually covered him. They dabbed water across his brow and cooling ice to the red spots on his skin that were beginning to multiply and swell.

“Do all you can to wake him,” the Pharaoh said concernedly, watching over their ministrations. “He has somewhere to go tonight.”

The Pharaoh knew he had to return to the banquet to quell all the unrest that had surely erupted from Adam’s collapse and his own departure.

The Pharaoh returned promptly to the grand hall, and took his place in his throne again. Conversation in the spacious room gradually returned to normal, but Lady Merrick was watching the Pharaoh darkly from the side of her eyes.

“Hold your dirty looks and your tongue, Sister,” the Pharaoh said, without even turning to look at her. “You have already placed yourself in a dangerous position with me for your unacceptable behavior and treatment of Adam.” She huddled back in her throne, frowning and crossing her arms.

As soon as the guests started to file out from the grand hall, the Pharaoh hurried for his chambers. To his distress, Adam’s condition had only worsened.

“He hasn’t awoken, my lord,” one of the servants said, frowning as she dabbed a wet cloth across Adam’s face. “And his breathing has become more labored and uneven.” The Pharaoh moved to stand next to the bed, looking at the angry red welts that had appeared along Adam’s arms, neck, and face. “Our concern is that there could be internal swelling as well,” the servant said softly, “Especially in his throat.” Each of Adam’s breaths sounded more hoarse, more difficult for him than the previous. And still, his closed eyes didn’t show the slightest flicker of movement.

The Pharaoh crossed his arms and frowned, his fingers digging into the skin of his arm as he considered what to do. Kris would be arriving soon, prepared to pick up a healthy Adam who could leave with him, but obviously, Adam was unable to go anywhere.

He asked one of the nurses, “How detrimental could it be if he’s carried out from the palace?”

The nurse’s brow furrowed, looking displeased with the Pharaoh’s question. “I can’t say we know the details of his condition, but moving him anywhere would doubtless be a bad idea, Your Majesty. It could cause whatever he’s fighting to spread more quickly. And why would you want him to leave? We can tend to his health here, and the best doctor is on his way to treat him.”

The Pharaoh nodded slightly, massaging the bridge of his nose with his fingertips as he deliberated over what to do.

Finally, he told the servants and nurses, “Wash him and give him fresh robes, then leave him alone to rest. I’ll return later to watch over him.” He turned from the bed where Adam was lying, and left the room.

The Pharaoh moved through the empty corridors of the palace, passing guards, and a few servants that scurried past him, bent over in bows as they went by him. When he reached the front gates, sure enough, he saw three of his sister’s guards watching sentry. The Pharaoh ordered them to part and he slipped past them. He knew she had given them explicit orders only to keep Adam from leaving. They would only challenge his authority if he went through the gates with Adam in tow.

The Pharaoh saw the shadowy figure of a horse huddled behind one of the tall trees that lined the entrance pathway to the palace. After making sure no one was watching, he walked closer, and saw someone dismount from the horse’s back.

“Kris?”

Moving away from the horse, Kris stepped out from behind the tree. He was wrapped up in dark traveling robes, and had an anxious, hopeful expression on his face.

“Y-your Majesty…” Kris stumbled over his words as he took in exactly who was standing in front of him, and he started lowering himself to his knees.

“Don’t bother with formalities, there’s no time. Listen to me, Adam cannot leave with you. He has fallen ill, too ill to be moved.” With those words, Kris had risen back to his full height, his head lifted immediately with a panicked, frightened expression.

“He-he’s sick? It’s his cough, isn’t it?” Kris asked softly, voice weak.

The Pharaoh nodded. “He cannot travel anywhere. But I’ll bring you inside to see him. He might not be awake, though.”

“It doesn’t matter. Please, let me see him.”

“Make sure your horse is secured, and come with me.”

With trembling hands, Kris tied the horse’s reigns to a low branch of the tree it was standing behind, and then he turned to follow the Pharaoh through the front gates. Kris’ heart was pounding like a drum in his chest, he could feel its rhythm thumping throughout his whole body, and fear was growing like a cancer in his mind.

Adam was ill. …..Adam.

When they got inside, the Pharaoh said to Kris in a hushed voice, “We must split up, so no one sees and reports to Lady Merrick that I’ve brought you inside. I’ll have a servant show you the way to my chambers, where Adam is. I’ll meet you there.” It was still important to the Pharaoh to minimize conflict within the royal family.

Kris just nodded, dazed by his own fear for Adam, and just wanting to see him as soon as possible. The Pharaoh beckoned over a servant, and murmured instructions to him. The servant told Kris to follow him, and started winding his way through the dimly-lit hallways of the palace, Kris on his heels.

The Pharaoh took an alternate route to his chambers, and sure enough, he passed the spying eyes of several of his sister’s servants. He took a quick shortcut to his bedchambers. As he stepped past his guards, he instructed them to let Kris in when he arrived.

The servants and nurses had left, like the Pharaoh had ordered. Adam laid still on the bed, dressed in loose, black robes. The servants had washed and dried his hair, and his dark, soft hair lay against his face and over his shoulders. His hair had grown considerably longer during his time in the palace. The image of him lying still and relaxed could have been the simple, beautiful portrait of him sleeping. But the peaceful beauty was cracked and ruined by the harsh sounds of his breathing, each one a wheeze and a struggle. As the Pharaoh walked over to stand at the bedside, he desperately hoped that Adam’s health would recover, so he could leave the palace, be free and happy like he couldn’t here. He could cut his overgrown hair, dress like he wanted to, and spend his time with the company he chose of his own will.

Adam shifted on the bed and movement flickered beneath his eyelids. If Adam was finally waking up, the Pharaoh prayed Kris would arrive soon to be here when he did. Adam’s voice made a rumbling, murmuring sound that was indiscernible. One of his hands lifted slowly up into the air, like he was reaching for something. Then the Pharaoh could understand Adam’s repeated murmurings.

“Kris……Kris…” Each time he repeated the name, his reaching and clawing through the air grew more desperate. “Kris…” Adam’s voice broke, soft and vulnerable and weak. “..Kris…where are you...?”

Adam’s eyes were still closed, but he was clawing and grabbing at nothing with both hands now, as desperately as if he were a drowning man searching for the rope that would carry him back up to the surface.

The Pharaoh dropped down onto his knees beside the bed. In attempt to quell Adam’s distress, he closed one of Adam’s hands within both of his own. Adam slowly stilled after a few minutes, then he was clutching tightly to the other man’s hand. Still under the darkness of his closed eyes, Adam couldn’t tell the difference between the man he’d been calling out for, and the man currently at his side.

Kris burst through the door. He had kept telling the servant who had been guiding him to go faster, faster, Kris had been desperate to get here and see Adam. From the door beside the bed Kris had entered through, it just so happened that the first thing his eyes landed on was Adam’s hand clutching tightly to one of the Pharaoh’s, who was kneeling next to him. Kris had seen Adam do a lot of things with customers, but never that. It threw Kris off kilter for a few moments. But then the next thing he was looking at was Adam spread out and too still on the bed, and every other semblance of thinking left Kris’ mind.

“Adam!” Kris cried out as he rushed out of the doorway and towards the bed. After the sound of Kris’ voice calling out his name, Adam’s eyelids flickered before they slid open. Adam’s hand was quickly pulled from the Pharaoh’s as Adam struggled to sit up. “Kris? Kris?!”

The Pharaoh stood to move aside, just as Kris reached the bed and climbed immediately onto it, to kneel at Adam’s side.

“K-Kris, you’re here…” Adam wheezed out as Kris gathered him close in his arms, and Adam clung to him.

“Oh Adam,….” Kris whispered, an anguished, terrified expression on his face as he held Adam as close as he could. Fear gripped him like iron chains as Kris had Adam right there in his arms, and could see how bad his condition was – how he struggled for breath. The visible skin of Adam’s arms and chest had turned red and swollen, and the blemishes were beginning to spread up his neck, with dark blotches beginning to surface across his face. Kris bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as he looked at Adam, and his fingers shook as he stroked them through Adam’s hair.

“What is it?” Kris asked in a weak whisper, “Adam, what’s wrong with you?”

“I…I don’t know…” Adam whispered helplessly.

The Pharaoh spoke up from where he’d been standing backed away from the bed, “A doctor was summoned earlier. He should arrive any minute now, and he’ll be able to tell us what’s ailing him.” Kris nodded, his eyes never leaving Adam, as if he was afraid Adam might vanish or leave him if Kris didn’t keep his attention fixed firmly on him.

They settled down on the bed together, with Adam’s head resting back in Kris’ lap, and Kris with one arm around Adam’s shoulders supporting him, and the other combing soothingly through his hair. The scraping, strained sound of Adam’s breathing sent Kris’ mind into an awful, helpless panic each time. Each consecutive one sounded like more and more of a struggle from him.

Sure enough, the doctor arrived only a few minutes later. After a few words with the Pharaoh, the doctor came over to the bedside. Kris helped Adam lay back on the bed, but kept a tight hold on one of his hands. The angry welts that had bubbled on Adam’s hand burned Kris’ skin like brands, but he held on tightly nonetheless.

The doctor lifted Adam’s other arm, squinting as he closely examined the coloration and swellings on his skin. Adam blinked slowly, sleepily through the haze of his loud breathing, seeming to hardly even notice the doctor as the doctor moved over his body, examining him. The doctor opened Adam’s robes a little more, so that he could see how the redness was spreading over the whole area of his chest. A cough suddenly came from Adam. He struggled to sit up as he coughed violently, and Kris hurried to help support him.

“How long have you had this cough?” the doctor asked.

As Adam’s cough was still dying down, Kris hurried to answer, “Only recently, perhaps the last two moons or so.”

Adam shook his head weakly. He avoided Kris’ eyes as his cough dissipated and he responded weakly, “A long time. Over a year.”

Kris frowned and his fingers tightened against Adam’s shoulders as he learned that Adam had been struggling with this since before he’d met Kris, and had never said anything.

“It’s only become troublesome recently,” Adam whispered, his voice hoarse. “The cough used to be really rare, then started getting worse. Then just today, this happened…” Adam weakly raised his reddened arm.

“And only most recently, there has been some blood accompanying his cough,” the Pharaoh added. Adam nodded, looking weakened and almost shamed.

The doctor nodded, frowning as he considered the things he was hearing, and examined the physical illness of Adam’s skin. He reached into the bag he had brought with him and produced a needle that he pricked the skin of Adam’s arm with. He raised a bowl, and collected a small amount of Adam’s blood, to examine the coloring and consistency of it.

The doctor frowned as he lifted his head from examining the contents of the bowl, “I believe he’s had a disease within him for even longer than he’s realized. It’s been dormant and ineffectual for a long time, and did not begin emerging until his cough became regular. Now as it flourishes within him and attacks his body, it’s spreading out into his skin and producing this effect.” The doctor lifted a hand to press two fingers against the underside of Adam’s throat, feeling for swelling. The redness had spread up his neck, but there also seemed to be some internal inflammation. “Swelling within the windpipe is causing his breathing problems.” The doctor withdrew his hand from Adam. He looked up at the Pharaoh, and then focused on Kris, his face steeled. “While we’re concerned about the physical effects on his skin, the illness is wreaking entirely different havoc within him, unseen and far worse. The external redness is not too concerting, as it’s not harming him. But under the skin, the disease took root long before even he realized something was amiss. For it to have been dormant for so long, just spreading so deeply internally, he must have also contracted it internally. Perhaps from a contaminant in food, but more likely from intercourse. But the disease is matured, and strengthened. He’s dying. And it won’t take long.”

Kris choked on the words themselves, and tears flooded into his eyes, as quickly as if a switch had been flicked to summon them. Adam just closed his eyes, not looking much more affected than if the doctor had told them the weather.

Adam murmured in his weakened voice, “I’ve bedded too many men to begin counting. I knew it would happen eventually.”

Like a punch directly to the stomach, Kris realized that Adam was already resigned to this. He’d already given up.

“No.” Kris snapped, his voice more strengthened and resolute than it had ever been, despite the tears in his eyes. “You won’t die,” he said firmly, his arms tightening around Adam. “Don’t you be weak, and just give yourself up to this. You’ve never been the kind of man to act like that.” Kris’ gaze flew up to the doctor. “There must be something to do, some way to cure him. Anything!”

The doctor’s eyebrows knitted in a thoughtful expression as he scoured his knowledge for any possibilities.

“I can only think of one, a tonic made from extracts of the San Qi herb. It would completely cure him, not only making him healthy again but also ridding his body of the disease so there would never be risk of spreading it. But I haven’t the slightest idea how we’d go about getting it. I’ve never seen the herb with my own eyes, it only grows in distant countries.”

The Pharaoh was quick to say, “I have gardens and crops grown by my servants all throughout my lands. I’m sure it is somewhere within our reach.”

The doctor shook his head with a frown. “It cannot grow in Egypt, or anywhere near. The ground and climate is too dry.”

“And you know of no other possible remedy?” Kris asked desperately. The doctor shook his head.

As Kris began to despair, Adam started coughing again. But his cough was an attempt to speak. As Kris did his best to support Adam’s shoulders, Adam gasped out between gasps for breath, “A-ah...mad….”

“What?” Kris questioned softly, but then he thought over what Adam had attempted to say, and all of a sudden it clicked in his mind, and hope surged through every inch of his body with incredible force. “Ahmad! That merchant who came to see you! He carries wares from all over!” Adam nodded weakly, and Kris hugged Adam to his chest a bit.

“This is what I meant,…by not giving up. You’re going to make it, I know you are. You have to…” Kris pressed his face against Adam’s hair, clutching Adam tightly to him. Kris had never been more frightened, more utterly terrified and desolate in his life – not when his mother had first sold him, and not any of the times Dallon had beaten him. Watching Adam in front of him, knowing he was dying … Kris would rather have brought death to himself than have to stand at Adam’s bedside unable to do anything to help him.

“You have to live,” Kris murmured in nothing but a heartfelt whisper, against Adam’s ear, “I love you more than I could say.” Kris couldn’t know if Adam had heard him or not, because when Kris pulled back a little to look down at Adam, he saw that his eyes had fallen shut again, and Adam had gone limp and unconscious in Kris’ arms.

“Adam…” Kris murmured helplessly, biting his lip hard to keep back tears as he carefully laid Adam back down on the bed. Between the three men still conscious in the room, none said anything through the sounds of Kris’ tiny sniffles.

When Kris’ soft sounds had died away, the Pharaoh finally spoke up to ask, “Who is this merchant you spoke of?”

Kris scrubbed the back of his hand over his nose, and blinked the last remnants of his tears away as his eyes remained fixed for a few more seconds on Adam’s unmoving face. Then Kris tore himself away from Adam, spun around and leapt off the bed. As if the Pharaoh was nothing more than a slave, Kris said with complete determination and authority, “Don’t worry about him. I know what he looks like, and how to get him to give up the tonic. He has a thing for Adam, and I’ll use that. I’m going to go to the markets and travel the trade routes until I find him. You’re going to stay here and watch over Adam. Make sure he’s well-nourished and gets any and all care he needs.”

The Pharaoh only floundered with shock for a moment over the way Kris spoke to him, but then the Pharaoh was nodding in agreement. Kris obviously had determination that far exceeded the meaning of the word, and the Pharaoh could see how much Kris endlessly cared for the man currently laying out unconscious on the bed.

“Wait here for a quick moment,” the Pharaoh said before hurrying off to a corner of his chambers where there was a chest of drawers and digging through it. Meanwhile, Kris returned to Adam’s bedside. Kris sunk down onto his knees beside the bed, and watched Adam with concern as Kris submerged his fingers into Adam’s hair again, lightly stroking the strands back from Adam’s face. Despite the redness spreading across Adam’s face, he looked perfectly serene.

“Here,” the Pharaoh said, after returning to Kris’ side. Kris stood up, and the Pharaoh placed a small leather satchel in Kris’ hands. “I don’t want you to have to rely on this merchant’s generosity or liking for Adam. He’s probably crooked, like all merchants in these times.” When Kris opened the satchel, nestled inside he saw countless shimmering golden necklaces and armbands. “They’re all real, and each is worth a fortune on its own,” the Pharaoh said. “Use these to pay for the tonic.”

“Thank you,” Kris said immediately as he closed the bag again, and tucked it inside his traveling robes, making sure the incredibly precious satchel was secured. “I’m going to return as soon as I possibly can. Adam doesn’t have much time…” Kris trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek.

“I’ll send two of my guards with you, and three horses to carry you all. Mine will be faster than the horse you arrived here on.”

“Could you lend me a fourth as well? I need to pick up Adam’s old guard, Michael, on our way. He’ll help me.”

“Of course,” the Pharaoh said immediately, and he stepped out from the room to summon two of his guards and give them quick instructions. The Pharaoh waved the doctor from the room as well, dismissing him. Kris found himself left with Adam, for one final moment before Kris left. Kris allowed himself to look back to the bed only for a moment.

“You’re not alone anymore, Adam,” Kris whispered to the empty room and Adam’s unhearing ears. Kris hoped that somehow, through whatever it was Adam was having to fight within himself, he could hear Kris’s words, “You’re going to get better, and then you’re never going to hurt again. Even if I have to stake my very life on it, I’ll make sure of that.”

Kris wrenched himself away from the sight of the man on the bed. Kris hurried from the room, determined to return presently, with the draught in hand that would revive and save his beloved’s life.

 

It had taken Kris two whole days to ride from their tent to the palace, when he’d thought he was on his way to bringing Adam home. But tearing across the sand on the back of the Pharaoh’s horse – two of the Pharaoh’s guards trailing him – the trip took him less than one day, without a single slowing of pace or rest. When they reached the tent, Michael was already coming out through the door as Kris leapt down from the horse.

“Adam’s not with you?” Michael demanded, his eyes anxious and concerned.

Kris shook his head firmly. During the trip, he’d made sure that his determination had as strong of a hold on him as possible. It wouldn’t be hard for him to lose his drive in the dark depths of sadness and hopelessness if he thought too much of Adam back in the palace – sick, alone,…dying. Kris would lose himself in the unbearable thoughts if he let himself dwell on them too much. So with his fortitude setting him ablaze, he took the reins from one of the guard’s hands of the fourth horse the Pharaoh had given them, and held them out for Michael.

“I had to leave Adam for now. The illness he has that made him cough all the time has been getting stronger with time. As we speak now, he’s dying. If we are to save him, we have to act fast.”

Michael’s jaw worked soundlessly for a few moments, searching for words, for a coping mechanism against the dagger that had been plunged right through his heart with the news.

“What can we do?” Michael asked as he took the horse’s reigns from Kris and swung himself up onto the strong horse’s back. Similar to Kris, he seemed to be focused on the future, not the crushing blow Kris had just delivered with his words.

“Follow me to the markets,” Kris said, already kicking his own horse into a gallop again. “We have to find that Ahmad guy that always visited Adam.”

“How can that twit help?”

“The Pharaoh had a doctor examine Adam, and he said there’s only one thing that can cure him. A tonic made from an herb that grows only in foreign lands. Ahmad travels and trades in countless different countries, doesn’t he?”

“Yes, I see. So we have to seek him out, and pray to every god we can name that he’ll have this tonic,” Michael said grimly. Michael sped his horse up until he was up beside Kris, and could speak to him more easily. “And what of these guards with us? They’d better not have been sent by that Merrick bitch to spy on us or some other dirty tactic. I’ll beat them into the ground.”

“No, they’re the Pharaoh’s. He sent them with me so they can help make sure Ahmad gives up the tonic. The Pharaoh also gave me gold to use as payment.”

Michael’s brow lifted in surprise, “Adam really got to him good.”

Kris just gave a slight vacant nod, his eyes glued to the horizon ahead. He didn’t really want to think about what Michael had just spoken of. The Pharaoh was obviously going out of his way to give Adam special care, and aid Kris as much as he could. Kris didn’t know what exactly Adam had done to win such loyalty, but he was sure it was nothing he’d enjoy knowing details of. The memory pulsed in front of his eyes of when he’d entered the Pharaoh’s chambers and seen a weak Adam gripping the Pharaoh’s hands in his own. It was a small gesture, but nothing like how Adam had ever been known to act towards any previous customers. Kris had never seen him hold hands with even Brad, whom Adam had been fairly close to. Kris had met the Pharaoh himself … he was handsome, and seemed kind, not to mention his great power and influence. He wouldn’t be a hard man for Adam to fall in love with…

As soon as the full, awful thought formed in his mind, Kris shook his head to banish it, feeling disgusted with himself for worrying about such a thing while Adam’s very life rested on his shoulders. Even if it were true…, while it would hurt Kris immensely, right now it wouldn’t matter. Kris still had to succeed in his search for this tonic.

No matter what, he could not fail.

 

The world was lost to dark, swirling depths. Adam drifted mindlessly back and forth over the line of consciousness, unable to control the blackness that continually clouded his vision. He didn’t know anymore whether he was awake, dreaming, or perhaps had already died. He didn’t know anymore that he was supposed to be able to tell the difference. For the few rare moments when his eyes would open and he would take in his surroundings, there was only one thing he saw – or failed to see. Kris, …… he wasn’t there. Where had he gone? Why had he left? Why had he left Adam alone? Kris…..

 

Ahmad was nowhere to be found at the markets. Kris, Michael, and the guards had split up and spent the whole morning searching every corner and street, but the merchant wasn’t there.

“We have to search the trade routes,” Kris said immediately after they all regrouped.

“It would take days. They pass through all the neighboring countries and farther,” one of the Pharaoh’s guards said.

With frustrated, hopeless tears beginning to sting his eyes, Kris asserted, “Then we have to start now!” Michael shifted on the back of his horse, looking around to the dirt paths that extended from the town. He pointed to one.

“Most merchants take that route, since there are several smaller towns along there on the way to the next city. We should start off down that one.”

The two guards nodded their agreement, and nudged their horses to follow Michael as he turned his own towards the path. Kris’ horse trotted beside Michael’s, and Kris rubbed the back of his fist against his closed eyes to get the stupid, frustrated tears to go away. Michael reached over to rub Kris’ back.

They rode the whole day long, and the struggle to keep up hope was taking everything out of Kris. He felt as if each passing minute was taking the life from him, just as he knew time was draining the life from Adam. Each step with no sight of the merchant they were searching for pained Kris so much, he could barely take the next step. But he and Michael were Adam’s only hope, and Kris had to keep going….. he had to…

The sun had just begun its descent behind the horizon when the four men on horseback reached the third village to count. There was a group of merchants who had set up their wares on a street corner. Kris dismounted his horse and immediately went over to search for Ahmad. There were merchants shouting out their prices of grain, fish, oil, and silk, but Kris pushed past every stand and townsperson in his path, his eyes searching for only one man. Kris had almost reached the end of the line of stands, and was breathing hard with both exhaustion and hopeless frustration. Kris turned back to return to Michael, disappointment searing through him like the sting of a blade. Then his eyes glazed over the final stand in line, and his eyes fell on the stand set up behind it. It was small, but overflowing with countless unnamable objects the likes of which Kris had never seen. Behind the stand stood Ahmad. Kris stood completely paralyzed in shock for a few short moments before he jumped into the air with the sheer force of the overwhelming joy surging through him.

“Michael! MICHAEL!” Kris started yelling, waving his arms wildly in the air in Michael’s direction so the other man would see him. Kris was almost hoarse from yelling by the time Michael reached him.

“Good Gods, what?” Michael demanded when he reached Kris.

“Look! Look, it’s him! It’s him! Ahmad!” Kris cried, pointing wildly towards him. Michael was the one who dragged them over, but Kris was the first one to jump into speech.

“You! Ahmad! You know Adam Lambert?!” Kris practically shouted at him, breathless as he and Michael rushed over.

Ahmad looked startled as he turned from a potential customer to the two men who had just rushed at him, both looking panicked and alarmed. He squinted his eyes at Michael.

“Yes, I do know Adam. You’re his guard.”

Michael harbored a rather fierce dislike for Ahmad because of the way he treated Adam, but Michael knew it wouldn’t do in their current situation to make enemies of him.

“Indeed,” Michael answered, “And this is Kris, Adam’s friend. We’ve been searching for you because there’s a very important thing we must ask of you.”

Ahmad’s brow furrowed. “What?”

“The San Qi herb. You’ve heard of it?” Kris asked hurriedly. He swore his heart was about to beat its way out of his chest. He could feel his pulse racing beneath his skin, his palms sweating as he waited both excitedly and fearfully for the merchant’s answer.

“Of course,” Ahmad said with a unconcerned nod, “It only grows in distant places with unusual climate, but it produces an extremely valuable tonic. The tonic is unbelievably rare, but I always try to keep a stock among my wares.”

“So you have some with you now?!”

Looking displeased by Kris’ outburst and watching him warily, Ahmad nodded.

Kris’ legs felt weak. He thought he might just collapse to the ground, he was so indescribably relieved. Maybe everything was going to be alright… they’d bring the tonic to Adam as quickly as possible, and Adam would recover…

“We need this tonic immediately,” Michael said while Kris gripped his arm for support through his staggering relief. Kris fumbled a hand inside his robes and withdrew the small pouch of golden jewelry the Pharaoh had given him. Kris tugged the pouch open and held it out to Ahmad so he could see inside.

“We’ll give you all of this! Whatever the price is. But we need that tonic right now.”

Ahmad took the pouch from Kris and peered inside. He reached inside to paw through the gold items.

“This isn’t enough, not nearly enough,” Ahmad said with a frown as he looked back up at Kris and Michael. “Do you have any idea how incredibly valuable and rare the San Qi tonic is?”

All of Kris’ relief suddenly dissipated, leaving him stranded in desperateness and anger. “W-what? But there’s a fortune in there! How much more could you want?!”

“At least double this. The tonic is probably worth even more.”

“No one can afford that! That’s ludicrous!” Kris exclaimed. “You’ll never sell the tonic at a price like that!”

“I sell plenty, boy,” Ahmad said , narrowing his eyes at Kris. “The San Qi tonic is more valuable than you could even imagine. I won’t sell it for anything less than it’s worth.”

Michael was gritting his teeth at Kris’ side, but he turned Kris towards him by the shoulder. “Maybe we should go back to the tent and empty Adam’s storage chest. Then we should have enough.”

“No!” Kris cried, pushing Michael’s hand away as if Michael’s touch was just as repellent as his suggestion. “We don’t have time for that! It’ll take us a day to get back home, and a day to get back here. Then two more days to get to the palace. Adam doesn’t have that much time! We have to get the tonic now!”

Ahmad quirked an eyebrow quizzically at their conversation. Kris turned from Michael and instead marched right up to Ahmad, until his face was only inches from the other, taller man’s.

“You listen to me, you greedy bastard. We need that tonic now and we aren’t going anywhere until we get it. Adam is gravely ill with a disease he caught from a bedmate. Every second we talk and waste, his condition gets worse. He’s dying! That tonic is the only chance of saving him. For all the trouble and unpleasantries you’ve put him through in the past, you owe him this! … This is the only thing that can save his life.”

Ahmad looked disgustingly less upset than Kris was hoping for. He said with nothing but a thoughtful expression, “It would be a shame, no doubt, to waste a beauty like him…” Ahmad mused aloud, and Kris restrained the urge to hit him right in the center of his smug, rotten face.

As Kris disputed with Ahmad and the man showed no signs of acting favorably towards them, Michael slipped away from them and hurried to retrieve the two guards who had traveled with them.

“He was so good at what he did, too,” Ahmad said with a mockery of a mournful shake of his head.

“Why are you talking like he’s already dead?!” Kris exclaimed, truly outraged now. “I’m offering you all this gold for a tonic that will save a person’s life! Don’t you care about him at all, you monster?” Kris swiped the pouch containing the gold from Ahmad’s hands, to jingle it and its contents noisily in front of Ahmad’s face. “You know who gave me these? It was the Pharaoh. That’s right, Pharaoh Meraten himself! He actually concerns over Adam, unlike you. Adam’s under his and his physicians’ care right now, and the Pharaoh enabled me to come searching for you and the tonic by giving me this gold. It’s not just me who’s trying to save Adam, it’s the Pharaoh too! Do you really want to cross the Pharaoh’s wishes?”

Now, finally Ahmad was starting to look a little unsure.

“You know for certain that this disease will kill him?”

Kris nodded, biting the inside of his lip. “I just saw him recently. He looked…terrible. He was barely breathing, and his skin was red and inflamed.”

Ahmad shook his head, looking frustrated. “It’s a shame. I so enjoyed him, but why should it be my responsibility to cure him? Why should I lose money from my most valuable ware?”

“Don’t you get it?!” Kris shouted, angrier than he could express, “This isn’t about money! This is about a person’s life!! Adam’s life! For all we know, you could have been the one who gave him the disease! Don’t you care at all?!”

“Obviously he doesn’t. Kris, clear out of the way.”

Kris turned, and saw that Michael had returned and was standing behind him, cracking his knuckles and leveling Ahmad with a glare of pure malice. He had brought the Pharaoh’s guards, who stood on either side of him. Michael went on, “Since you won’t listen to Kris’ logic, you don’t leave us any choice but to take the tonic by force. Gotta admit…” his left hand’s knuckles cracked with a harsh, loud crunch, “I’ve been waiting for a long time for the day I’d get to hit you.”

Ahmad took a few stumbling steps backward. Michael compensated, sliding forward quickly and grabbing the front of Ahmad’s robes roughly and dragging the other man up close to him again.

“You’re going to get out a dose of that tonic right now, and you’re going to give it to us whether you prefer to or not,” Michael growled dangerously into Ahmad’s face. Ahmad’s eyes fearfully raced back and forth from the Pharaoh’s guards, to Michael, and back again. He tried to look like he wasn’t frightened, but it was obvious in the way he gulped for his breaths. One of the guards at Michael’s side drew his sword.

“Okay, okay fine! I’ll give it to you!”

“Damn right,” Michael muttered, slowly letting go of Ahmad.

When his feet securely found the ground again, Ahmad turned and ducked down under his stand, retrieving a small wooden chest. He clicked open the lock and then lifted the chest’s lid open. He reached inside, and withdrew a small glass vial, corked with a wooden stopper on one end. Through the glass, Michael and Kris could see the light green, almost yellowish murky substance that swirled within. Ahmad held it out to Kris. “Be careful. You won’t be able to get this anywhere else.” Kris reached out and took the vial carefully, holding it in his palm. It was small enough for him to hold it securely across his palm.

He was in disbelief. This tiny, fragile dose was what could save Adam – who meant more than Kris could even comprehend? But Kris knew it was true, and he was holding Adam’s only hope for survival right here in his hand. Kris pulled open his outer traveling robe, and found the small inner pocket. He carefully slid the vial inside before closing his robe again, resting one hand over the pocket from the outside so he could feel the shape of the vial and be reassured it was there, safe. The pouch filled with the Pharaoh’s gold was still in Kris’ other hand, forgotten. Kris held it out to Ahmad again.

“Thank you,” Kris said. Ahmad may have been a bastard, but Kris owed him everything for providing the tonic, and some gold as payment was better than none. Ahmad snatched it from Kris’ hand.

“So go off now and save Adam,” Ahmad said with a scowl as he tucked the pouch inside his robes. But Kris was sure that somewhere deep down, he could see a hint of happiness in Ahmad over providing Kris with the tonic.

Kris smiled just a little. “Thank you,” he repeated.

Michael nodded and echoed Kris’ sentiment, already ushering Kris and the guards back towards where their horses stood. With one hand placed securely over where the tonic was stashed in his robes, Kris raced ahead of them. He mounted his horse, and set off with a head start back down the path.

When the other three caught up with him, Kris shouted from the back of his horse, “It’s a two-day ride to the palace! At top speed with no breaks, how fast can we make it?”

“If we push it, a day easy!” one of the guards responded.

Kris nodded, turning on the horse’s back to face forward again, his determined gaze locking on the horizon. He gripped his horse’s reigns tightly enough to turn his knuckles pale, flattened his body down against the horse’s back, and set a breakneck, racing speed for the others to follow.

Kicking his horse’s side and nudging the animal to run even faster, Kris murmured fiercely, “I’m coming, Adam.”

 

The sun had taken up its hiding place beneath the horizon several hours ago, and night had seized the desert expanse Kris, Michael, and the guards raced across. Finally, the palace was coming into view. Kris bumped his heels against the horse’s side, urging the animal to go faster and faster, just for this final leg of the trip. The horse had never run faster in its life.

When they tugged their horses’ reigns to bring them to a halt before the palace gates, something seemed to be amiss right away. There was usually a line of guards that stood at the gates, protecting the palace’s entrance and keeping out intruders. Now, there were no guards in sight.

“This is odd,” one of the guards said with a frown, jumping down from his horse. “There’s a rotation of the Pharaoh’s guards who are always to stand at the gates.”

Kris and Michael dismounted and followed the guards through the unguarded gates. The courtyard beyond the gates was just as unusually deserted. They didn’t see anyone until they stepped inside the palace and spotted one guard standing within the doorway. The guards who had traveled with Kris and Adam stepped ahead to speak to him.

“What’s going on? Why is there no one at the front gates?” one of them asked. The guard in the doorway turned towards Kris and Michael.

“You’re the ones sent on that priority errand by the Pharaoh? He instructed us to watch for your return” the guard in the doorway asked, pointing towards all four of them. One of Kris and Michael’s companion guards nodded in affirmation. “He sent you guys out several days ago,” the other guard continued, “Everything’s gone out of control since then.”

“What? What do you mean?!” Kris demanded. Now, he was craning his head up, looking over the guard’s shoulders and down the palace’s front corridor. None of the guards usually stationed along the corridor were present.

“The very night after you set out, news arrived from the southern border. The Assyrians launched a full-scale attack. It wasn’t expected, and we didn’t have enough troops stationed there to defend the border. The Pharaoh left as soon as he got the news, to lead the rest of his army southward. Before he left, though, he summoned a small group of his most trusted guards, and told us he has that harem boy, Adam, under his personal care, and that Adam was ill and resting in the Pharaoh’s private chambers. The Pharaoh instructed us to keep this a secret, but be aware of it for we were to guard him in the Pharaoh’s absence. We had no idea who would want to do an ill harem boy harm, but we stationed ourselves outside the Pharaoh’s chambers, as instructed. Only the next day, our question was answered.

“Lady Merrick gathered the whole force of her palace guards, and combined them with those of the Lord Dallon. The two of them poised their forces against us, threatening that we had no chance of getting in their way. Lady Merrick proclaimed her intention of killing Adam. But she severely underestimated our strength, and loyalty to our Pharaoh’s orders. He instructed us to protect Adam, and that’s what we’ve been doing…for the past two days. There are only about twenty-five of us, and perhaps sixty or seventy in opposition, but we’re much stronger. Only six of us have fallen, and we’re doing them plenty damage. I’m staked out here to keep Lady Merrick or Dallon from sending out any messengers to ask for help from the outside.”

“They-they want to kill Adam….?” Kris repeated weakly, his face pale. His brain had seemed to stumble over those words, and his hearing ceased to function for anything following.

While Kris looked increasingly stunned and weakened as the guard explained the situation to them, Michael had grown so angry-looking that it looked as if he might blast into the air at any moment like a lit rocket. “That foul. Merrick. bitch! And Dallon! That filthy rat! I’ll kill both of them with my bare hands!”

“But Adam’s safe for now,” the guard told them as he noticed their obvious distress. “Lady Merrick or Dallon won’t be getting through us any time soon.”

“But you don’t understand, he’s not safe!” Kris exclaimed. He withdrew the small vial holding the tonic from within his robes, and showed it to the guard. “Adam’s not just ill. He’s dying. This is the only thing that can save him. This is what the Pharaoh sent us out to get. We have to get this to him!”

“That won’t be easy,” the guard said with a frown. “The fighting’s going on right outside the door of the Pharaoh’s chambers.” The guard turned around, looking down the corridor for a moment before he beckoned Kris and Michael towards him. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

The guard hurried down along the corridor, and Michael and Kris rushed behind him. Kris had replaced the vial safely in his robe’s small inner pocket. His heart was in his throat, and each beat seemed to thunder throughout his whole body with fear.

They reached the end of the corridor and turned to hurry down another. They turned one more corner, and then stopped dead in their tracks.

There was a full-on war taking place inside the palace. Kris recognized the large doors that led to the Pharaoh’s private chambers, and the Pharaoh’s guards, dressed in full-body armor and armed to the teeth, were spread out before the doors. On the opposite side of the hallway, Lady Merrick and Lord Dallon were standing behind their forces, each waving their arms in the air and shouting orders to their guards. Most of the fighting was spread out through the middle of the wide hallway. The Pharaoh’s guards were beating back the opposition, taking on three or four enemies at a time and either shoving them back or cutting them down. The Pharaoh’s guards were clearly much more skilled. The hallway’s floor was littered with the gored bodies of Merrick and Dallon’s guards. Only a few bodies of the Pharaoh’s guards were visible on the floor amongst the battle.

Standing behind most of their allies, three of the Pharaoh’s guards stood firmly stationed right in front of the doors to the Pharaoh’s chambers. Their swords were sheathed at their hips as they wielded bows instead. One guard from the opposition somehow managed to sneak by the Pharaoh’s guards all locked in combat, and attempted to advance on the doorway. The sentry that was closest of the three drew his sword with a quick snap of his wrist, and only crossed blades with the opponent for a few short seconds before the other crumpled to the floor, wounded. The Pharaoh’s guard resheathed his sword and stepped back to his place right in front of the door. The door remained unbreached.

“How can I get in?” Kris demanded, turning to the guard who had led them here.

“I cannot think of a way…..” the guard said with a frown.

“What about servants?” Kris asked, wracking his brain for anything and everything. “Don’t they have to go in to bring Adam food and care?”

The guard shook his head, “The Pharaoh had food and supplies gathered and placed in his chambers before he left. He said he didn’t want to risk Adam being too weak to call for servants when he needed something, so the Pharaoh provided everything beforehand.”

Kris was silent, his mind still whirring with the struggle for a solution. He refused to give up. It wasn’t an option.

“Do Merrick and Dallon know that?” Kris asked.

The guard hesitated, thinking for a moment. “I’m not sure.”

Kris’ face set instantly with determination. “Then that’s all I can do. I need the robes servants wear, and I’m going to try to get in pretending to be one. Merrick and Dallon both know my face, so I’ll need robes with a hood.”

“Even if they’re convinced you’re a servant, they won’t just let you go in. We can do our best to protect you, but letting a servant in would mean care for Adam, and if they want Adam dead, they’d want that servant trying to help him dead too.”

“It doesn’t matter. I have to get in there, and I have to be disguised. If they saw it was me, they would really give everything to kill me.”

From Kris’ side, Michael laid a hand on his shoulder. “Kris… you realize how dangerous this…”

“I don’t care,” Kris avowed, “We traveled and searched for that tonic, and we’re going to get it to Adam. And I have to give it to him myself. I won’t live with anything less.” His gaze fixed on the guard. “Find me some servant robes.” The guard nodded, and turned to hurry back down the hallway, leaving Kris and Michael standing behind one of the hallway’s grand pillars, out of sight from Lady Merrick or Dallon.

When the guard returned a few minutes later, he beckoned Kris and Michael to step into a side corridor, where they could have privacy from the battle.

“Here,” the guard said, handing Kris the white servant robes. He had also retrieved a shield, which he held in his other hand. Kris slid the robes on and made sure the glass vial holding the tonic was secure in his inside pocket before he did up the front of the robes. Kris lifted the hood, and Michael helped tug the fabric down low enough so it would completely hide Kris’ face from sight. The guard lifted the shield in his hand and drew his sword.

“Ready? Stay near me and we’re going to head straight for the door.”

Kris nodded. Michael gripped his shoulder for a moment.

“Don’t be too reckless now, Kris. You’ve got to get in there alive.” Kris nodded, a determined, grim frown set on his face.

As Kris tugged his hood forward again and followed the guard out of the side hallway, Michael found himself thinking back to the first time he’d formally met Kris – when Adam had brought him home a beaten, bloody mess. He had looked so small and timid when Michael had seen him enter the tent behind Adam. Now, watching his back turn down the end of the hallway, Kris looked like the strongest, most resolute man Michael had ever laid eyes on.

“Take care of him, Kris. I know you can save him.”

 

Kris’ heart was pounding painfully in his chest as he crept out into the hallway behind the guard. The guard held the shield up before him not only to defend them, but also to help hide Kris from view.

“Stay right behind me, no matter what,” the guard hissed to Kris.

Then, they were in the middle of the battle. Kris reached a hand out to hold onto one of the back straps of the guard’s armor, to make sure he stayed close to him as the guard slashed and jabbed his blade expertly at the enemies who attempted to block their way. Kris did his best to keep his attention focused only on the guard’s broad back, and move through the pandemonium surrounding him. He had to step over the bodies littering the floor, keep his head turned away from the sight of the guards locked in violent combat all around him. He did his best to focus on the sound of his own panicked breathing, not on the mess of screams and shouts wrapping around him, not on the bloodshed. They were about halfway to the door, but Kris’ heart was pounding so hard and painfully against his chest that he feared he might not make it without having a heart attack first.

 

Lady Merrick’s attention was drawn by one of her brother’s guards who seemed to just be slashing and bowling his way through her own forces. Strangely, he seemed to be attempting travel across the hallway – to the door… Then she noticed a smaller figure crouched behind him who was dressed in white. The white garments must mean a servant, but why go to such lengths to get a servant inside the Pharaoh’s chambers? Her eyes squinted in confusion, and she watched closely as two of her own guards challenged her brother’s. They attacked simultaneously, but he held his shield aloft to block both of them. But the force of the combined blows sent the guard stumbling a few steps backwards, and when he did, he jostled the person crouched behind him. He, in turn, staggered. And as he struggled to regain his balance, the hood that covered his whole head fell back off his face. Lady Merrick gasped as she recognized the boy instantly.

“Dallon!” she shouted, turning to the Lord standing near her side. “Look! They’re trying to sneak that Kris boy in! No doubt he’s trying to save Adam! Stop him! Kill him!”

At her words, Lord Dallon whipped his head around to look out into the melee. He immediately spotted the person dressed in white servant robes, and saw Kris’ face before he managed to pull his hood back up. Dallon started shouting desperate orders to his forces, waving his arms around angrily as he shouted. Lady Merrick’s incensed voice joined the cacophony of frenzied sounds.

 

Four of Dallon’s guards rushed the guard defending Kris. He shoved one off with a thrust of his shield, and became locked in combat with the other three. He saw more of the enemy advancing, rushing at them with Kris as their obvious target.

“Run for the door!” the guard shouted to Kris, giving him a rough shove in the direction of the doorway. Kris stumbled over his feet for a moment, struggling to get ahold of his balance and his own body again before he just started running. One foot in front of the other, one in front of the other. He had to leap over bodies and shove his way between others, but he knew he had to keep moving.

“Protect him! Get him to the door!” Kris heard his defending guard shouting to his comrades from behind him. The Pharaoh’s guards did their best to clear Kris’ path, beating back Merrick and Dallon’s guards that tried to attack Kris.

One of the opposition stepped right in front of Kris, and he pushed and shoved at him to do his best to go on. Kris saw one of the Pharaoh’s guards rushing forward to clear his path. But before he got close enough, a crushing weight slammed into Kris’ shoulder. Kris cried out and crumpled to the floor, clutching his on-fire shoulder. He looked up to the guard standing over him, who was lifting his sword to slash Kris again. Kris curled up desperately on the floor, trying to move his searing shoulder and lift his arms to cover his head. A loud cry came from over him, and then there was a hand gripping his arm and pulling him to his feet.

The Pharaoh’s guard who had been approaching had cut down the man who’d stabbed Kris. The guard gave Kris just enough of a push to get his feet reeling the rest of the way to the door. The sentries in front of the door parted to allow Kris through, and then stepped in behind him to defend his back. Kris’ hands scrabbled with the door handle, but they were wet and slick with something, and he couldn’t grip it. Finally, he was able to wrestle the door open, and fall through.

The door closed behind him with a thud, and suddenly the world was silent again. The sounds of the battle were on the other side of the door, distant and far away. Kris’ world shrunk painfully to his shoulder. He sunk to his knees as he hissed in pain. He gripped his shoulder, and it wasn’t until then that he realized stark bright blood was seeping into the white servant robes he was wearing. The slickness on his hands was blood. He swore softly, and struggled his way out of the white robes, dropping them on the ground. The pain in his shoulder was almost all consuming, turning his whole world a painful dark red. Then a single thought – a single purpose, weaved its way back into Kris’ mind through the haze of pain.

Adam…..the tonic!!

Kris’ head shot up to look into the room and immediately spotted Adam on the bed. His eyes were closed and he lay motionless. Kris squinted in desperation as he looked at Adam’s chest…and couldn’t see any up and down motion.

“N-no….” Kris gasped. He wiped his hands messily on his robes before reaching inside them to retrieve the vial from the inside pocket. With the tonic clutched tightly in his hand, he stumbled towards the bed. Ignoring the fire in his shoulder, Kris climbed up and kneeled at Adam’s side on the bed. Kris had to take a second calming himself and getting his hands to stop shaking before he could carefully remove the stopper from the open end of the small vial.

“Adam…I-I’m here. ..I-I got the tonic. I can save you…Please…stay here with me…”

Kris held up the vial of green-tinted liquid to Adam’s mouth. Adam didn’t move an inch. His eyes didn’t flutter. Kris bit his lip hard as he reached out with his other hand to hold Adam’s jaw and open his mouth.

“P-please Adam, drink this…” Kris whimpered, tears coming into his eyes and his voice growing shaky. Kris poured a little bit of the liquid from the vial slowly into Adam’s open mouth. “Please, Adam…” He rubbed his fingers against the outside of Adam’s throat, until the liquid was swallowed. Kris kept rubbing, ignoring how red and inflamed the skin under his fingers was. Kris slowly poured out the rest of the tonic, making sure Adam got every last drop.

“Adam….say something. Say something to me, please…” Kris begged in a weak voice.

The pain in his shoulder pulsated, sending Kris’ whole world spinning. Kris’ fingers clenched the material of the robes Adam was dressed in, determined to hold onto him,…to stay with him…

Kris’ vision suddenly blinked out. His weakened body slumped over, and he collapsed on the bed beside Adam. Blood had steadily soaked its way through the robes at his shoulder. Kris laid just as unmoving as his lover, one of his limp arms draped out from his side, his fingers still resolutely gripping the empty glass vial.


	2. Chapter 2

Light was beginning to trickle in through the darkness. Everything that had been black for so long was slowly and gradually beginning to brighten. First, the bright pigments began to soak through the dark cover of eyelids, pushing and prodding until he had no choice but to crack his eyes open.

At first, all Adam could see was bright, clear light. Then, slowly his vision began to focus. His vision hadn’t been this clear in days, and he laid there in a daze as the ceiling slowly slid into focus. He swallowed experimentally, and was shocked to feel the swelling and blockage gone. He wiggled his fingers, and then lifted his right arm with some effort. He held up his hand above his face, fingers spread. The red splotches were receding. Now, they were faint and barely visible. They didn’t hurt anymore. He couldn’t believe what had happened – there was no pain in his throat, no bloody, violent cough trying to fight its way out. His body felt calm and peaceful.

There was the pull of exhaustion, coaxing him to close his eyes and rest, now that he could sleep peacefully. But he couldn’t quite yet. How had this happened? How had the pain all gone away?

Adam opened his eyes again and tensed his muscles so he could sit up. His limbs still felt a little stiff, but the pain remained at bay. His vision swam for a moment, but just a few seconds of rubbing brought it back, as clear as ever. The form of something next to him caught his attention.

At first, it was just a set of limbs, a tangle of robes, a limp body. Then Adam’s eyes traveled up to the person’s face, and all of the pain that had appeared to be gone suddenly seemed to flare right in his heart.

Adam gasped and struggled to sit up all the way and move across the bed. He reached out for Kris’ unconscious body, hands trembling. The second his hands touched Kris’ robes was the second he saw all the blood. He choked on his breath. There was so much.

“K-Kris…” Adam’s hands gingerly inspected Kris’ bloodied robes, searching for the source of the blood. Adam untied the robes in the front, and pushed them back off Kris’ shoulders. When he saw the bloody, gory mess that was Kris’ right shoulder, the world seemed to shrink in on Adam, trapping and choking him.

Adam scrambled to untie his own robes. He slid his arm out of one of the sleeves, and then gripped the empty sleeve at the shoulder. He held onto the material of the sleeve and pulled until the seams at the shoulder loosened and pulled apart. He took the ripped-off sleeve and quickly folded it across his lap to use to wrap Kris’ wound. As his fingers hastened to fix the makeshift bandage, his panicked eyes kept flicking over Kris’ unmoving body. His eyes raced to follow the curve of Kris’ arm jutting out from his body, and then Adam’s hands paused for a moment.

In his fingers, Kris was still gripping a small, empty glass vial. Adam just stared at the small object for a couple seconds before everything clicked in his mind.

That was the reason Kris was here in the room with him. Kris had come in to bring the tonic that would save Adam. The conversation with the doctor when he’d told Kris about the San Qi tonic was the last thing Adam could remember before the days of darkness and bleary unconsciousness.

Then, Adam heard a thump and a shout from outside the door of the Pharaoh’s chambers. There was more yelling, and it sounded like battle cries. Adam still wasn’t sure how Kris had gotten so injured, but the chaotic sounds from outside must have contributed. Kris would have had to come through whatever was happening outside the door in order to get inside to bring Adam the tonic. Kris must have traveled and searched for the tonic, and then returned and done whatever necessary to get it to Adam. And the fact that the vial in Kris’ hand was empty must mean Kris had succeeded in giving it to Adam before he’d passed out from blood loss.

That was how Adam felt so much better. Kris had saved him. Kris had almost sacrificed everything for him.

Adam bit the inside of his bottom lip hard, tasting the tang of blood. He had to get the wrap around Kris’ wound before he lost himself to his emotions. Adam twisted up the fabric of his sleeve and then pulled it taut. Before he wrapped it around Kris’ shoulder, he noticed a small washbasin and a cloth set out beside the bed. Adam reached out to pick up the cloth, and dipped it into the water. He steeled himself to all the blood, biting his lip before he leaned over Kris to gently dab the cloth over his wound. He carefully cleared away any dried blood and dirt. Then he set the cloth aside and slid the separated sleeve from his robe beneath Kris’ shoulder and carefully pulled up both ends to cover the bloody gash. He looped it around Kris’ shoulder a second time before tying it loosely. He spread the fabric a little, making sure it covered the whole width of the gash.

Adam looked at his hands, and swallowed unpleasant sickness when he saw Kris’ blood covering his hands. He wasn’t naturally prone to sickness at the sight of blood, but Kris’ blood was another story. He dipped his hands into the washbasin to clean off the blood.

Adam sat back on the bed and crossed his legs before reaching out for Kris again. He carefully lifted Kris’ head and moved it into his lap, biting his lip again as he combed his fingers softly through the other boy’s hair. He still hadn’t stirred once, and Adam had never hated silence more.

The silence was broken by another yell from the other side of the door. Adam jumped slightly and put his arms more tightly around Kris as if to protect him. Adam looked back down to Kris worriedly. Blood was already beginning to seep into the fabric of Adam’s sleeve – darkening the black fabric. Looking at Kris’ ruined robes, the alarming amount of blood he’d lost was clear.

Under his robes, Kris was wearing the thin white tunic Adam had bought for him at the markets so long ago. Before Adam had wrapped the wound, blood had already stained the white silk. Adam lightly touched the shirt with his fingertips, remembering that first trip to the markets with Kris.

Kris had been so stunned when Adam had bought him new clothes like it was nothing. Back then, Kris had been so timid and shy about everything. Adam thought back to the many moons he’d spent with Kris since then. As they had come to know each other better and fallen more and more in love, Kris had lost his inhibitions little by little. Adam may have provided for Kris in the beginning when they first met, but since then, Kris had given him so much more. Kris had saved him – not only in the literal meaning. Kris had appreciated him, cherished him, … made him feel for the first time like he was worth more than just a pleasure toy. And Adam had been dangerously close to losing himself in his loneliness and misery before Kris had come along. No one had ever made Adam feel like Kris did, no one made him feel that good, that loved. Adam had spent many days in the palace with the company of the Pharaoh’s talented, capable body, but Adam’s temporary pleasure had never turned to more. Kris made all of him feel loved – past his face and his skin, every part of him; more than Adam had ever imagined anyone could make him feel.

Adam kept his arms around Kris in his lap, occasionally stroking a hand through his hair. Adam couldn’t calm down, couldn’t focus on anything other than the wetness in the cloth wrapped around Kris’ shoulder, and his blood-red, ruined robes. It didn’t seem like Kris’ wound would stop bleeding any time soon and it was terrifying Adam. He had no idea what to do. What else could he do, besides wrap the wound? Perhaps stitch it, but even if he had the supplies, he would be too frightened of aggravating the wound worse. He should get Kris aid from someone who knew how to help him. But the sounds of the battle outside the doors went on. Adam knew that the Pharaoh had had to leave. He had knelt at Adam’s bedside before he’d left, and told Adam he was leaving him with food and other supplies before he departed. But none of that was what Adam needed. He needed a doctor for Kris.

With the Pharaoh gone, the palace wasn’t a safe place for Adam. He had too many enemies within the walls. He assumed the conflict going on beyond the doors was those enemies – Lady Merrick, perhaps Lord Dallon – trying to reach him and take the kind of revenge they weren’t at leisure to with the Pharaoh there protecting Adam.

But Adam needed to get Kris help. That was more important than keeping himself hidden. Whoever was out there was noisily fighting hard to reach him, and he figured they’d be willing to summon care for Kris in exchange for Adam handing himself over.

Adam looked down to Kris again, studied his blank, beautiful face. Adam bit his bottom lip again, worrying teeth marks into the flesh there that were quickly becoming worn-in. Kris’ face was blank, expressionless. Adam had to clutch him close, feel the pulsing beat of his heart and the body heat radiating from him to be reassured Kris was still breathing.

“There’s no way in hell I can sit here and do nothing, Kris,” he murmured, voice strained and pained. “I’m….watching you bleed to death, and this happened because of me.” Now, tears were steadily leaking into his eyes. “You’re so badly hurt. You must be in so much pain. ….. You are the single most…loving, kind, beautiful person I’ve ever known, and this world could lose you. Lose the light, all the good things you bring to it,…over me. I’m not worth this. Not nearly worth losing you…”

By now, Adam was trembling. He had to close his eyes to keep the tears from leaking out. Then something soft and gentle touched his cheek. Startled, Adam opened his eyes again.

Kris’ eyes were just barely open – only just enough for Adam to be able to see their heavenly color. It was Kris’ hand touching his cheek. Adam’s heart leaped.

“But you are,” Kris whispered, voice weak and raspy. “Don’t you understand that I’ve been trying so long to get you to see that?”

“K-Kris,” Adam choked, his tears falling on their own volition. His arms tightened around Kris, keeping him as close against his chest as he could.

“Adam,..listen to me.” Kris breathed, his gaze locked seriously with Adam’s eyes. “I know what you’re probably thinking right now. You’re thinking of doing anything you can to get me medical help. Even turning yourself over.”

Adam looked shocked. Kris knew him too well.

“Listen to me. You can’t,” Kris breathed urgently, his fingers knotting in the material of Adam’s robes. “They want to kill you, Merrick and Dallon, that’s what they’re trying to do. The Pharaoh left his guards orders to protect you, and they’re the only thing stopping those monsters from getting their way. I got in here to save your life, and you can’t just go throwing your life away now.”

“But Kris,…you could be dying…”

“I’m not,” Kris said softly, but with a little smile. “I would feel it if I was dying. Trust me, I’m not.” Kris let go of where he’d been clutching Adam’s robes, and moved one hand up to touch Adam’s cheek again. “Adam,…if you love me, make what I did for you worth it. It was worth it to me. Anything to keep you here with me is worth it to me. Please, just keep yourself safe from them.”

“You know I love you,” Adam murmured, trying his best to blink his tears away. Kris was telling him something very difficult to hear, but he didn’t feel the kind of crushing heartache or difficulty he was afraid he would as he heard what Kris was saying. Because deep down, he knew Kris was right. Adam loved Kris with everything in him, and trading his life away would undo this grand, amazing thing Kris had done for him, and Adam wouldn’t disrespect him like that, especially not when Kris was there in his arms, clinging to his robes and begging Adam to do as he was asking him. “Fine,” Adam breathed, “I understand, Kris. And I’ll do it, for you. But still, I can’t just sit here watching. I wrapped your wound but there has to be something else I can do. What do you need?”

“I’m…more weak from hunger than anything else,” Kris said softly. “I was so focused on getting that tonic, I’ve hardly eaten anything since that conversation with the doctor…”

Adam nodded immediately, and carefully laid Kris back down on the bed. Being careful he didn’t move too fast and make himself weak, Adam slowly got up from the bed and went over to the crates the Pharaoh had had servants bring in and place beside the bed before his departure. Adam peered inside, and found one filled with nothing but food, and almost any kind of food Adam could think of. For now, Adam just lifted out a few loaves of bread. He went back to the bed, and kneeled down beside Kris again.

“Kris?” Adam asked loudly, when he saw Kris’ eyes were closed.

Kris’ eyes cracked open again, “Y-yes,…yes, I’m fine.” Adam gently lifted Kris’ head into his lap again. Adam ripped off a bite-sized piece of the bread and fed it to Kris. After a few more bites in the same fashion, Adam tore off a larger piece, and gave it to Kris to eat himself once Kris seemed to have the strength to hold it.

“You eat the rest,” Kris told him softly around a bite of bread. “You can’t have eaten much either.”

It wasn’t until Adam was studying the bread in his hand that he realized how hungry he suddenly was. After he’d woken up and seen Kris lying unconscious beside him, Kris had consumed Adam’s thoughts. Adam bit into the bread hungrily.

They ate in silence for a few minutes. Kris ate the whole piece of bread Adam had given him. Adam was just finishing his own piece when Kris suddenly gave a horrified gasp.

Adam swallowed quickly, then exclaimed, “What?! What is it? What’s wrong?”

Kris was looking down at himself, and reached up to the white tunic he was wearing. “Oh no, it’s stained and ruined! No,…this is one of the tunics you bought for me…”

Adam let out a huge sigh of relief, and then a little laugh. “Gods, Kris, you frightened me. And don’t worry yourself about that. When we get out of this damned palace, I promise I’ll buy you all the tunics you want to replace this one.”

Kris’ immediate reaction was a smile for Adam. But after a few seconds, Kris’ smile began to shrink. “Do you think,…..are we going to get out of here?”

Adam frowned, but his voice stayed strong. “Yes. No matter what, both of us will. That can’t go on forever,” he waved his hand in the direction of the door, their barricade against the battle taking place outside. “And you’re going to walk out of here, healthy and strong.” Adam smiled as much as he could to back up his words, and he stroked Kris’ cheek reassuringly. Kris did his best to smile back.

“If only the Pharaoh hadn’t left,” Kris said softly, his eyes falling from Adam’s. “None of that would be happening outside if he was here to keep order. You know,…he helped me a lot with searching for the tonic for you. He didn’t go with me, but he gave me a fast horse, sent two of his guards to accompany me, and he gave me a whole bag of gold to buy the tonic with.” Maybe, Kris just couldn’t help but fishing a little for Adam to talk about what had transpired between himself and the Pharaoh. Kris knew it probably wasn’t the time, but it worried him incessantly all the same.

“He’s a good man,” Adam said, not picking up the vulnerable edge to Kris’ statement. “The only one of the sort in this sordid palace. He looked out for me, stayed his sister’s hand whenever she got too abusive towards me. He was really going to give it his all to help me escape. But of course, that was all after I started frequenting his bed,” Adam said nonchalantly.

“So then,…you were really sharing his bed? You said something about it in your letter to Michael and me, about how you got him to help you, but…that was a regular thing? With the Pharaoh?”

Adam nodded. He wasn’t looking at Kris, he was blankly watching the wall instead. “He was the only good thing in the palace. He cared for me. It’s why he’s got guards out there protecting me. He was always kind when we were together, always gentle. I think he may even imagine he loves me, though I’m not sure I believe it.”

“But do you,…” Kris began to ask softly, framing the question painfully in his mind before he could bring himself to vocalize it, “..d-do you….love him too…?”

Adam’s eyes widened and instantly snapped away from the wall and back to Kris. His eyes softened when he saw the traces of pain and worry on Kris’ face, and he put his arms around Kris again in his lap.

“Oh, oh Kris,…I understand now. I can see how it looked that way. But no, never, Kris. He was never anything more than a good customer to me. Yes, he’s given me a lot, but after you, Kris…, I could never love anyone else.” Adam tenderly stroked Kris’ cheek, and then gave him the hint of a smile. “Even if they are the Pharaoh. They would still never come close to comparing to you.”

Kris smiled, weak but relieved. He reached up for Adam’s hand against his cheek, and held onto it with both of his own. Adam felt the way Kris gripped his hand, and could sense how much this worry had plagued Kris.

“I promise you, Kris,” Adam spoke softly, yet with the power of truth strong behind his words, “Everything I did with him, it was all only for you. So I could get back to you. So he would help me escape and return to you. It was low of me to use him like that, but at that point, I would have done anything to be with you again……I missed you so much, while I was trapped here,” Adam’s voice fell low and urgent.

Kris started struggling in Adam’s lap, searching for the strength to sit up. Adam helped him, and then Kris was throwing his arms around Adam and kissing him.

Both of them were a bit caught off guard, because up until this point, they had just been happy to be in each other’s presence again, to see each other alive and well with their own eyes. But Adam’s words had acted as some kind of switch, as a catalyst to the flooding of old, overwhelming feelings from when they’d been separated. For Adam, of the hours, days, weeks spent in the palace, pining for Kris, missing him like he was the very air Adam needed to survive. For Kris, the relief of Adam being alive and awake and healthy right before his eyes, knowing he was alright, and lurking deeper than that, it was a deep, passionate longing and need for Adam that had been budding inside him, even since before Adam had been taken from him and dragged to the palace.

Kris clutched Adam’s robe at the shoulders, and Adam gathered Kris close in his arms – just for this moment, the torturous worries about Kris’ wound relieved. They had never had a kiss like this, and it made both of them light-headed and dizzy. In this simple, all-powerful moment of need and love, both of them were able to momentarily forget the mess of worries and fear and danger their lives had been and still were. They were dipping into a new world of shared passion they had not yet stepped foot in, as they tasted for the first time the kind of hungry, intense kiss they hadn’t yet shared.

They separated a few long, long seconds later. Kris was grinning as he pulled away. He’d thought about that kind of kiss a little bit back when they’d been exploring their first soft, short, tentative kisses together. Kris had been waiting for a kiss like that. Adam was just breathing hard, trying to catch up again to his racing brain. It felt so good to just lose himself in Kris for a few moments, he didn’t think about it or the consequences. He tugged Kris in close against him, wrapping him up tightly in his arms.

“I love you,” Adam breathed easily, happily against Kris’ ear.

Kris didn’t doubt it, and his mind had already gone about dumping out all his fears about Adam falling for someone else. “I love you too,” Kris murmured happily. “So, so much.”

Adam’s hand shifted upwards, to grip Kris more tightly around the shoulders, when Kris let out a sudden hiss of pain. Adam jumped, immediately lowering his arms and easing Kris back down to his reclining position with his head in Adam’s lap.

“S-sorry, I’m sorry,” Adam said in a rush.

“It’s okay,” Kris said with a smile. “I’m okay.” He reached for Adam’s hand again, and gripped it tightly between both of his own. Adam smiled down at him fondly and lovingly, his other hand lifting to stroke through Kris’ hair. Adam’s eyes softened the longer he looked at Kris, his heart racing and swelling as he pondered thoughts about the boy in his lap.

“So…” Adam started softly, his hand gripping Kris’ more tightly, “Even when you thought my heart was unfaithful to you, still…you gave so much to save me. You still did that for me.”

“I would do anything for you,” Kris said immediately, automatically and with conviction. “Even if I heard you declare love to the Pharaoh with my own ears, I would have still come through that battle to bring the tonic to you. And I mean it.”

Through his delirious happiness and the fluttering of his heart, Adam thought back to Kris’ shy, quiet character when they had first met, and he would have been amused by Kris’ assertiveness if he hadn’t felt quite so honored and stunned.

“I apologize, but I’m still not convinced I’m worth that.”

“You are,” Kris said softly, his tone gentle yet serious. “I know you’ve been waiting your whole life for someone to tell you that. And I am now, so please believe me. You’re worth anything, everything to me.”

Adam was caught off guard, stunned for a few seconds by the way Kris had just reached his heart so exactly and precisely. Kris knew him even better than Adam had realized.

“Kris,” Adam said softly, then cleared his throat so he could give his voice the strength it needed for what he planned to say. “The…the disease I had. I already contracted it long before I met you, and it was from my job, my lifestyle. I don’t even have any way of knowing who it was that spread it to me. Clearly, no amount of money is worth that. No amount of…strange, sick comfort I would get in the familiarity of doing what I had been made to believe I was raised for. Nothing was worth how sick I was. I know I would have died, if I hadn’t been fortunate enough to have you to save me. My job, my lifestyle…it would have killed me. And you,…being willing to do anything to save me…” Adam placed a light, ever so careful hand over the bloodied bandage covering Kris’ wound, “…willing to…die for me, my prostitution almost killed you too.” Adam moved his hand to touch Kris’ face. “This was the rudest wake up call imaginable, but…in a strange way,…I think it’s what I needed. Kris, you can believe me this time, hear me swear to you that I’m giving that life up forever. No matter who it is, no matter what they give me,…I will never let anyone touch me or kiss me or have me. I’m yours and only yours. I swear,…forever.”

Kris’ eyes started tearing up halfway through Adam’s speech. “Are you sure?” Kris asked softly, voice wavering. “I know it’s not easy for you, I know it’s not simple…”

Adam laid a gentle finger over his mouth to quiet him.

“Simple enough. Because I would do anything for you, too.”

Kris fixed Adam with a teary smile for a few moments, just gazing at him and nothing else.

“But, Adam…..you can’t just do it for me. It has to be for you, too…”

“It’s for both of us. So we can be together without anything getting in the way. So we can be happy, no complications”

Kris smiled so wide, it looked as if the smile might hurt his face.

Kris responded, “For that to happen, we have to get out of here first.”

Adam nodded, but even despite the circumstances they were trapped in, the sight of Kris’ huge, seamless smile made a grin of equal size slide its way across Adam’s mouth as he stroked his fingers through Kris’ sandy-brown hair again.

Kris looked as happy and content as he possibly could in that moment, with his eyes closed and his head pillowed back in Adam’s lap. Watching him made Adam relieved and relaxed, just for the moment. But then Kris suddenly hissed in pain, one hand flying to his shoulder. His hand wavered as his face contorted in pain, looking like he wanted to grip his shoulder but knowing that doing so would only cause the pain to worsen.

“Kris, Kris, what happened…?” Adam asked worriedly, one of his hands clenching anxiously in Kris’ robes.

“It-it stings….burns all of a sudden,” Kris whimpered. “Get the wash cloth. Could you put cool water on it?”

“Y-Yes, of course…” Adam immediately reached over for the cloth again. He tested the water temperature with his fingers first, then quickly submerged the whole cloth under the water’s surface. He wrung it out a few times before lifting it to Kris’ shoulder. He gently peeled the cloth bandage to the side, so he could dab the wet washcloth to the wound. Adam’s heart clenched with fear when he saw how much it was still bleeding. The injury had cut sickeningly deep into Kris’ shoulder, but Adam was terrified by more than just that fact. Even from a wound that deep, blood flow should gradually lessen with time. But Kris’ wasn’t at all. Adam didn’t want to dwell too much on the added threat of some kind of infection, but he knew it was a possibility.

“I’m so sorry, Kris….I don’t know what else to do for you,” Adam whispered in a pained voice as he gently dabbed the wash cloth to Kris’ bloodied shoulder. Kris just forced a smile in reply.

“Don’t worry, Adam. I’ll be fine.”

If Kris didn’t look quite so weak and frail lying out in Adam’s lap, Adam would have been cross with him for lying so blatantly. Just looking at Kris – how pale and worn his face was - made it painfully obvious how far away from fine he was.

“Just…wrap my shoulder again,” Kris said weakly. Adam nodded as he returned the washcloth to the basin. Instead of ripping off fabric from his robes, this time Adam went to look through the crates of supplies until he found a roll of bandages. He wrapped Kris’ shoulder liberally because of how much blood there still was, then tied off the bandage neatly.

“Thank you,” Kris said with a little smile as Adam settled back down on the bed with Kris’ head in his lap.

As Adam slid his fingers gently into Kris’ hair again, Kris’ eyes began slipping closed.

“Go ahead and sleep, love,” Adam told him softly. “It’ll help you heal. I’m too concerned about you to sleep, so don’t worry, I’ll watch over you.”

“But… you should sleep too,” Kris mumbled, already half asleep. He was obviously weakened and drowsy from his injury. “…You’re still getting better…”

“No, I’m feeling much, much better. Thanks to my hero, who fought his way in here to save me.”

Kris got a silly, dreamy smile on his face at Adam’s words. “Rode all over the desert, too…” he murmured, before his breathing evened out into sleep.

Adam smiled a little as he watched Kris’ face melt into relaxation and peace. Adam gently touched his fingertips to Kris’ cheek.

“He did a lot more than that,” Adam murmured, even though there was no one to hear. “He saved me in every possible meaning of the word.”

 

“So tell me exactly what you had to do to get the tonic?”

Kris was sitting back in the bed, leaning against a pile of pillows. Adam had dug out some more food for them, eating half himself and feeding Kris the rest. They had been trapped in this room for almost two days now, as the sounds of the battle outside hadn’t ceased to rage. The gruesome sounds of battle would quiet for a few hours in the night, but then begin again in the first light of day.

But even in so many hours, Kris had barely recovered any of his strength. Blood from his wound didn’t quite soak all the way through the bandages anymore, but they still had to be changed frequently – not nearly enough of an improvement for Adam to feel any less on edge.

After he swallowed his mouthful of food, he began, “Michael and I searched all through the markets, and when we didn’t find Ahmad there, we knew we were going to have to extend our search to the surrounding trade routes in the area. I was about to go mad, I was so anxious to get the tonic and bring it back to you, but searching all the trade routes was going to be such a huge, daunting task.”

Kris reached out to find Adam’s hand and hold it, needing the reassurance that Adam was here, alive, healthy, for Kris to be able to go on.

“But we set out. And when I say set out, I mean more like tear out. Those horses have never run faster in their lives, I’m sure of that. After about a day of searching I was starting to get desperate and hopeless. There was such a distance to search… But some god up there was watching and must have helped us...” Kris smiled the slightest bit at Adam. “At the third trade post we traveled past, we found Ahmad. I was so relieved, I almost collapsed,” Kris laughed a little, and squeezed Adam’s hand. “At first, he didn’t want to sell us the tonic because he said it was worth more than what we were offering. I was so unbelievably angry at him for being so greedy and stupid. I yelled and screamed more than I care to admit. Then Michael finally threatened him, and that scared him enough that he agreed to sell it to us. And then, well, I jumped onto that horse and rode back as fast as I possibly could, to get the tonic to you and save you.”

Kris’ eyes lowered from Adam’s face, and Adam watched as Kris sucked his bottom lip into his mouth, biting it. “I was so, so scared,” Kris murmured, “So scared I’d lose you. …And then I wouldn’t know what to do…”

With those words, Kris looked so small and lost, so frightened. Adam immediately set aside the plate they’d been eating from, and crawled up the bed towards Kris. He pulled Kris into his arms, and Kris immediately clung to him, burying his face against Adam’s chest as Adam held him.

“I’m here, I’m right here,” Adam murmured, his lips pressed against Kris’ hair, “I’m alive and well, thanks to you.” Kris nodded a little, but kept holding onto Adam. After gently rubbing his hand up and down Kris’ back for a few minutes, Adam spoke softly again, “You know,…there was a moment while you were gone, when I woke up and I could think relatively clearly. But the only thing I noticed, the only thing I thought about…was that you weren’t there. And I may have panicked for a moment, because I didn’t understand why you were gone.”

Kris’ fingers tightened in the material of Adam’s robes, and he tipped his head up so he could see Adam’s face. Adam smiled softly at him, and lifted a hand to stroke his cheek.

“Once we get out of here,” Adam started softly, “We’re never going to have to be apart again, are we?”

Kris shook his head, his arms curling up around Adam’s neck. “I can’t think of any reason that could ever be good enough.”

“Good,” Adam breathed, his fingers still caressing Kris’ cheek, “Because I need you so much, Kris. I don’t think I could bear being away from you again, not after I spent so long trapped here in the palace, away from you.”

Kris placed a soft kiss on Adam’s lips before he responded, “Well if you’re going to be so clingy, I guess I have no choice but to hang around.” Adam grinned and chuckled a little before Kris continued, “And you have to know it doesn’t matter to me where I am or where I’m going, as long as I’m with you.”

“I guess that settles it, then,” Adam said matter-of-factly, “We’re stuck together for life.”

“I guess we’ll have to make it work somehow,” Kris said, smiling languidly as he slowly tilted his lips in for another kiss. Adam wrapped Kris up tightly in his arms as he kissed him again. To Adam, it still seemed like Kris was the only person he’d ever shared a true kiss with – a kiss that meant something.

Only a few seconds later, Kris grew weak again. Adam carefully settled Kris back down on the bed, his head in Adam’s lap, as was becoming their routine position.

There was suddenly a loud banging on the door that caused both of them to jump. It came again – a pounding, like someone was trying to break through the door.

“Adam….” Kris’ eyes were huge, and his breathing grew loud as fear pulsed through him.

“I know I promised I wouldn’t, Kris, but if that’s Lady Merrick’s forces finally getting through, I’m handing myself over before I let her kill you too.”

“No, you said…!” Kris was cut off by the crash of the door flying open. Adam crouched down protectively over Kris in his lap, but he was surprised when he looked towards the open door and saw his gesture was unnecessary.

The Pharaoh stood in the doorway, brandishing a sword in each hand, and his harried appearance evidence that he had fought his way in and most likely kicked the door open. He was still in battle gear – nothing but a kilt and thin armor strapped over his bare torso. He rushed into the room immediately, exclaiming, “Adam! Are you alright?”

After taking a few seconds to get over his shock, Adam responded, “Yes, I’m fine! Kris was able to get me the tonic. But Kris was injured when he was bringing it to me! His wound hasn’t stopped bleeding!”

After coming over to the bed and briefly inspecting Kris, the Pharaoh turned back towards the door to yell for the nurses to be summoned.

“What’s happening outside?” Adam asked worriedly, “Is the fighting over?”

The Pharaoh grimaced, “I couldn’t believe the state of things when I returned. And in my own home! I marched my army in here and they’re putting down my sister’s impudence. It won’t be long until the fighting’s over and everything is back under my control. And don’t worry, we’ll get Kris fixed up.”

As if on cue, two nurses hurried in through the doorway.

“Here.” The Pharaoh motioned them over to where Kris laid on the bed. As they carefully peeled away the bandage in order to inspect the injury, the Pharaoh asked, “And the rest of the nurses are tending to my injured guards?” One of the nurses leaning over Kris nodded.

Adam held his breath, his heart beating quickly and uncontrollably as he waited for them to examine the gash.

Finally, one of the nurses said, “Lucky we got in here when we did. His wound’s infected. We’re going to use some salve to disinfect it, and then stitch it up right away before anything else can get in there.”

“I was afraid of that,” Adam breathed, his heart still pounding. “Please, treat him as soon as possible.”

“We’ll do it right now. Won’t take long,” one of the nurses looked over to the Pharaoh for confirmation, and he nodded. One of the nurses rushed out of the room to fetch the necessary supplies.

“Stay here next to me,” Kris asked Adam softly, a little bit of trepidation clear in Kris’ eyes.

Adam nodded immediately, taking one of Kris’ hands between his own. “Didn’t we already establish that we’re not ever leaving each other? I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

As soon as the one nurse returned, the two of them got to work. The Pharaoh remained at the bedside as well, watching over the procedure. Kris hissed in pain when the disinfecting salve was poured over his wound, and he squeezed Adam’s hand tight. Adam soothed him, telling him repeatedly that it would be over soon. And without wasting a moment, the nurses were soon producing a small needle and thin thread. Adam gripped Kris’ hand and gently stroked the back of his fingers as Kris’ wound was stitched up. Kris kept a death grip on Adam’s hand all the way until his shoulder was wrapped with a bandage again.

“There you go,” the nurse told Kris gently as she folded the end of the bandage into place. “In about half a moon cycle, see a doctor to have the stitches removed. You should be just fine.”

The Pharaoh interjected, “Why don’t you two simply stay here in the palace until the stitches are removed and we’re sure that both of you are properly healed?”

Adam shared a look with Kris before he responded for the both of them, “Thank you sincerely for the offer, and for everything you’ve done for both of us. But I think I speak for the two of us when I say we’d really just like to leave as soon as possible and put all that’s happened here behind us.”

The Pharaoh nodded understandingly, carefully hiding any of his thoughts towards their departure behind a neutral expression.

Kris started slowly sitting up in bed, and the nurses immediately reached out to support him, helping him sit up and then step onto the ground.

“Adam,” the Pharaoh said softly, drawing Adam aside. Adam went, after making sure Kris was alright standing on his own without support.

“Yes?” Adam asked when he noticed the seriousness of the Pharaoh’s expression.

“You…want to leave for good? I remember promising that after your departure, I would put out orders that you would never be captured or searched for again, under any circumstances. Of course I will still honor that. But do you remember my offer to give you my shared power? That still stands, and there is no other deserving of the position.”

Adam didn’t need any time to think it over.

“I am truly honored that you count me worthy, Your Majesty, but I must give my deepest apologies and stand behind my previous answer. With Kris injured, I really must stay at his side constantly, and he’s already given up so much for me…”

The Pharaoh just smiled regretfully in response. Really, that had been the answer he’d already been expecting. “Then it appears it’s time for both of you to finally leave. There are still a few final skirmishes going on outside. Once they’re quelled, you’ll be free to go wherever.”

The Pharaoh turned to lead them out of his chambers, and Adam moved to Kris’ side, slipping an arm around his waist to support him. Kris had overheard snippets of Adam and the Pharaoh’s hushed conversation, and he was looking up at Adam with something akin to awe.

“He offered you his throne?” Kris questioned softly.

Adam just smiled at Kris and shook his head slightly. “He offered to share it. But that would get in the way of the agreement we had about never being parted, remember?” Adam kissed Kris’ forehead, putting the issue to rest.

 

Kris and Adam had both been prepared for the sight of carnage when they stepped out through the door, following behind the Pharaoh and two of his guards. But neither of them was quite fully primed for bloodied bodies that littered the wide hallway’s floor. Kris couldn’t bear looking for more than a few seconds, quickly turning his head in against Adam’s shoulder. Adam’s arm tightened around the smaller man’s waist. Adam’s stomach churned and writhed, as if attempting to crawl up his throat. Had all of this happened solely because of him?

The Pharaoh charged forward into the remnants of the battle still struggling on a little ways down the hallway. Kris and Adam stood still behind the Pharaoh’s guards’ protection, able to do nothing but watch.

Lady Merrick and Lord Dallon’s forces had been almost completely depleted. But still, they refused to give in. They remained standing behind the small number of guards they had left, failing to see the blatant fact that they had lost. Looking further down the hallway, Adam could see the Pharaoh’s wives, Ahura and Layla, standing with Merrick and Dallon. Somewhere along the way, they had combined their four groups of forces. But they remained lost. Fear and apprehension were plain on Ahura and Layla’s faces as they watched their husband join the opposing side. The Pharaoh’s swords stilled for only a moment so he could converse with one of his allies. When he moved again, Adam was utterly shocked to see Nesa standing there, commanding her own forces. She had followed her sister in laws’ queue to join the battle, but had chosen the other side and added her forces to that of the Pharaoh’s.

In only the next few minutes, Adam and Kris watched the Pharaoh, his remaining guards, and Nesa’s guards take down the final remnants of the opposition. As they watched their final man fall – the Pharaoh’s sword thrust through his shoulder – Ahura and Layla dropped to their knees and threw themselves prostrate before the Pharaoh, crying out for forgiveness. Even Dallon slowly slid to the ground, his face fearful. Lady Merrick was the only one who remained standing, tall and stupidly defiant. The Pharaoh sheathed one of his swords but kept the second sword gripped tightly in his hand. He marched up to where Lady Merrick stood, drawing up to his full height so he stood several inches taller than the older woman. He lifted his sword and laid it against her shoulder, moving it so the edge of the blade ghosted against the skin of her neck. She flinched.

“On you knees, sister,” he commanded from between clenched teeth, his tone harsh and steely. Her eyes weakened and gave up the challenge against him. Finally, she sank down to her knees, head bowed.

The Pharaoh sheathed his sword, watching his sister warily.

“It’s over. Your insurrection is finished.”

 

Adam stared into the mirror, looking at himself up and down. This would be the last time he looked into this mirror – the one that stood in his room in the palace. This was the last time he would stand in this room. He had just stepped out of a bath a few minutes ago, and was now only dressed in his undergarments as he waited for a servant to bring him clean robes to wear. His chest was still peppered with red splotches but he was breathing easily with no trouble and felt strong and sturdy on his feet. Hour by hour, the redness was fading from his skin. The tonic had worked miraculously.

He was finally free. Soon he’d be leaving and never have to look back. But was it worth it? It had been an absolute blood bath for the last two days outside the Pharaoh’s chambers. Every single one of Merrick, Dallon, Ahura, and Layla’s guards had either been killed or fallen with horrific wounds. Their masters had all but lost themselves in their hatred and greed, and it was an indescribable crime that they had thrown away all their guards’ lives as if they were nothing.

The other side of the world wouldn’t be far enough away from this palace of greed and corruption. Perhaps it was better for the Pharaoh, and the country as a whole, that the true self-serving nature of the Pharaoh’s family had been revealed. But still, Adam could not see his new freedom with the same happiness when he thought of all of the men who’d been killed – the enemy’s men, and the Pharaoh’s guards that had fought with their lives for days and suffered losses in order to protect him. All Adam did know for certain was his interminable loathing for this place and all he had experienced within its walls. He couldn’t wait until he was journeying away from here, Kris at his side, and the palace shrinking far behind him.

Adam was pulled from his thoughts when the door of his room opened. He turned away from the mirror. A servant girl entered the room and stepped up to him, holding out clean, freshly-pressed white robes. Adam thanked her with a small smile as he took the robes and slid them on. She also handed him a thicker traveling robe to put on over top before she left the room again. Adam tied back his hair. It had grown much longer and was in need of a cut.

“Adam?”

Adam turned when he heard Kris’ voice, and then saw him peeking into the room through the ajar door. He was also bathed and dressed in new robes, and Adam could see the slight swell at his shoulder from the bandages under his robes.

“Ready to go?”

Adam smiled and nodded, coming over to Kris immediately. He placed a small, light kiss on Kris’ lips.

“You really think you have to ask me that? Even if the Pharaoh hadn’t insisted on us washing up and he’d already let us leave, it wouldn’t be soon enough.”

“Where’s Michael?” Kris asked.

“I saw him a little while ago in the infirmary. He joined the fight not long after you raced in to bring me the tonic. He only has a minor scrape on his arm. He said he’d be ready to go in no time and he would come here to my room as soon as his arm was bandaged.”

“Don’t worry. I won’t make you wait,” said a voice behind Adam, before Michael’s hands were clasped around Adam’s shoulders and he had turned him around to face him. “You’re really alright? You’re all healed? Kris said you were on death’s doorstep only days ago and now…”

“I’m fine, Michael,” Adam assured him with a smile. “Better than fine. I’m finally getting out of this wretched place. But your arm?” Adam asked, looking towards the bandage wrapped around Michael’s forearm.

“It’s a scratch,” Michael said dismissively, turning to Kris now. “And you? Your shoulder really got sliced.”

Kris answered, “I lost a lot of blood and the wound got infected, but Adam cleaned it and wrapped it and took care of me while we were holed up in the Pharaoh’s rooms together, and then a nurse stitched it. So it looks like we’re all going to be alright.”

“We damn well better be, after all we’ve gone through. Now, what do you two say we get the hell out of here.”

 

Adam entered the grand hall for the last time. Kris and Michael would soon follow, as servants were fitting them with clothes and supplies for their journey away from the palace.

The Pharaoh had soldiers from his army stationed along the far wall of the grand hall. On the dais, he had had all of the thrones save for his own pushed over and crushed. The Pharaoh was seated in his own tall throne – the last one standing. He had his head leaning on his hand, looking harrowed and weakened from all that had happened. He was speaking with his advisors in soft, charged tones, his eyes now and then cutting over to where the Lord and Lady Merrick, Lord Dallon, and all of the royal wives were held in custody to the side of the dais. The Pharaoh’s guards surrounded them, barring them from any escape attempts by keeping them at spear point.

Adam was about to approach the Pharaoh’s throne, but then he hung back as the Pharaoh quickly rose from his throne and strode over to the captives. He waved his hand, parting his guards so he could approach. Lord Merrick and Dallon shrunk back when they saw him. Ahura and Layla were trembling. Even Lady Merrick looked unmistakably terrified, yet continued standing tall as her eyes fixed on the brother whom she had so gravely betrayed.

The Pharaoh’s gaze slid slowly over them. He remained in disbelief over what they had done. None of his anger at their actions had faded since he’d heard news of it. When his gaze landed on Nesa, huddled by herself off to the side of his other wives, he waved his hand to the guard standing beside her.

“Let her free,” the Pharaoh ordered. When the guard who’d been keeping her trapped with the others stepped aside, the Pharaoh held out his hand towards her. “Nesa, your virtue is a blessing. I see that you are the sole member of my court that I can trust, and I am grateful to you for remaining steadfast and true.”

She smiled slightly, reaching out to take his hand so she could come stand at his side, facing the others with him. He stepped forward, confronting the defamed Lords, and his wives and sister whom he had considered his allies only a few days ago. The betrayal struck him deeply, yet he knew it was for the best that their treachery had been uncovered.

As the Pharaoh’s gaze fixed on each of them one by one, they each shrunk back in fear. Lady Merrick was the only one who remained standing tall ahead of the others.

“I’m disgusted by each of you!” his voice boomed, lashing out at them like a physical blow. Lady Merrick finally began shaking like a leaf.

Now his voice dipped down to a soft, deadly tone with much more bite than his shouting. “For days I was fighting on the front lines, leading our army to protect the southern border from invasion. During war campaigns, it’s a well-known fact that I must rely on the family I left in the palace to support the war effort. But I failed to receive a single shipment of supplies, or even a letter with a shred of news! It wasn’t until I arrived home when I saw what you all had deemed more important than defending our border. Trying to murder one man who was already sick and dying – and whom you all knew was under my express protection. You all realized full well what you were doing was not only despicable, but also treason to my wishes!”

“But Pharaoh!” Ahura cried out to him, falling onto her knees as she attempted to plead, “We could see that he was deceiving you! We were acting to protect your throne!”

“You were acting out of greed, because you feared I may have grown closer to him than to you. You wanted my favor, and you wanted my power. But you have nothing to lament, Ahura. I knew from the start that neither you nor Layla would ever be fit to share my throne.” His eyes carelessly left the two young women as they started weeping.

“And let me make quite sure that you all understand,” he continued, “that Adam was innocent of every single one of the crimes you suspected him of. So, let us start the sentencing at the beginning.”

He pointed to Lord Merrick, who was huddled behind his wife. One of the Pharaoh’s guards stepped forward to seize the man by the arm and drag him outside the ring of guards and in front of the Pharaoh. The man was tossed onto the hard ground before the Pharaoh’s feet, and the guard stood looming behind him to make sure he didn’t move.

“Lord Merrick,” the Pharaoh addressed him, watching him with distaste. The older man met his ruler’s eyes fearfully, making no move to rise from the floor. “I didn’t care for you from the start. But I never thought you would do something so vile.” Fear visibly flashed in Lord Merrick’s eyes when he suddenly realized that the Pharaoh knew everything.

“Brother, what do you mean?” Lady Merrick demanded from where she was still being held by the other guards off to the side of the dais. Her eyes were darting back and forth between her husband and her brother, failing to understand.

From the other side of the large room came the soft sound of footsteps moving over the floor. A few seconds later, Adam had come to stand at the Pharaoh’s side.

When Lord Merrick saw him, he stammered out, “I-…I’m sorry…”

Adam’s eyes narrowed as fury pulsed through him. “You can’t possibly think that’s good enough.”

The Pharaoh began in a voice plenty loud enough for everyone in the room to hear him, “You were the first out of anyone in the palace who knew Adam’s name. You invited him to spend a weekend in your company at your private estate. You waved such a large sum of money under his nose that it would have been senseless to refuse. During the time you played host to him, you showered him with gifts, expensive clothing, and gourmet meals.”

“And jewels,” Adam added softly, his jaw tense.

“…and let’s not forget jewels. Tell me, Lord, did he ask you for any of these things?”

Lord Merrick, his eyes fixed on the ground and face flaming in humiliation, shook his head.

“And wasn’t it you who initiated any relations with him?”

The man nodded miserably.

“And when your wife caught you in the act, you lied through your teeth about who you’d been unfaithful with. You said it hadn’t been your idea, and that he’d conned all these things out of you. But everything you told her was false. The opposite was true.”

“What?! That can’t be! You’re lying!!” Lady Merrick screamed, two of the guards holding her back.

“For once, he’s telling the truth,” Adam said coldly. “It was all his doing.”

“Lord Merrick,” the Pharaoh addressed him as the man finally, slowly looked up to the monarch. “Beginning today, I banish you. You will never step foot in this country again.”

The man cried out in protest, beseeching the Pharaoh for mercy and forgiveness as the guards began to drag him away. Without a hitch, the Pharaoh continued, “A single trunk of your belongings may accompany you, and you will take no more gold than what is necessary to purchase food.”

The Pharaoh then turned to face the other criminals. “Ahura. Layla. I am disappointed that you two allowed yourselves to be swept up so quickly in this tangle of lies. Your murderous treason cannot be forgiven. The same punishment extends to each of you.” They had both already been crying, but then a new round of tears came along with cries of protest.

“Oh, stop crying!” Nesa whispered to herself, exasperated. Adam heard and smiled slightly in amusement.

“Dallon,” the Pharaoh went on, turning to face the next offender. “You were never one of the few trustworthy of the nobility. In fact, I never liked you much at all, especially not after the things Adam’s told me regarding the way you’ve acted towards him and Kris. Banishment. I don’t ever want to see you step foot on my soil again.”

The Pharaoh moved on without a hitch to the final person standing behind the ring of guards – Lady Merrick.

“Sister,” the Pharaoh said grimly. She was watching him warily, like she knew what was coming and already resenting him for it…but there also seemed to be a hint of doubt on her face, like she was finally realizing the truth of what had been going on this whole time. She was finally realizing her grave, grave mistakes.

“I was under the impression that I could trust you. I left for the war campaign confident I was leaving my palace in your good, capable hands. Your actions have wounded me the deepest. Your blind devotion to your scum husband and his lies plunged all of us into turmoil. The cruel, degrading way you treated Adam was inexcusable. Even if your husband’s accusations had been true – there is no crime worthy of your methods of punishment. I would consider having you lashed to match the scars Adam will bear on his back for the rest of his life,…but fortunately for you, I will never sink to your pitiful level of vengeance and hatred. You abused your power, sister, and you abused my trust. Not only do I banish you, but I also strip you of all your power and status. I cast you out from my family. You will leave this country with no servants, no riches, no companions, and no brother.”

Adam watched as the woman’s jaw tensed and her eyes glossed over with a wet sheen. In his opinion, no punishment was extreme enough after the living hell she had plunged his life into.

“Take them away and let them prepare to leave,” the Pharaoh said dismissively as he turned away from their direction, a hand resting over his eyes. “Watch them – one trunk each and no more. Later I will set up the rations of food and the minimal money they will need.”

Adam couldn’t help but watch with the thrill of victory as the criminals were led from the room at spear point. Dallon and the Merricks looked disheveled and crumpled – beaten. Adam saw Lord Merrick try to reach out to his wife in something like an apology. She pushed him away, but with no real heat. She knew there was nothing to fight over anymore.

The two fallen wives were the only ones who hadn’t yet resigned themselves to their sentence. Still, they struggled against the guards restraining them, and called out to the Pharaoh, pleading. The guards started pulling them from the room. The two women saw Nesa standing a little ways away from the Pharaoh, nearer to them.

Ahura called out to her, “Nesa! You wouldn’t turn your back on us, would you? Talk to the Pharaoh, help us!”

Nesa only watched them for a moment before looking away.

“When have either of you ever helped me? All you’ve ever done is push me down and out of your way. You deserve this for all that you’ve done.”

The two older women shouted cruel obscenities at her as the guards restrained them. The Pharaoh turned towards Nesa when he heard their voices, and he reached out to place a reassuring arm around Nesa. She turned her head and smiled at him gratefully. They watched together as the five exiles were dragged out of the grand hall.

The moment the doors closed and it was silent again, the Pharaoh let out a loud breath. He moved to his throne and fell into it, resting his head in his hand. All that had happened had visibly shaken him.

The sound of voices came from the door beside the throne platform. Kris and Michael finally entered, dressed to travel and with packs strapped to their backs. Adam’s eyes lingered on Kris for a few moments, but he knew he couldn’t leave quite just yet.

Adam walked up before the Pharaoh’s throne. As the king looked up, Adam moved down to his knees and pressed himself to the ground, forehead touching the stone floor and his palms spread, arms extended in front of him.

“My Pharaoh,” Adam said, his face still near the floor but speaking loudly enough to be heard, “I will never be able to express enough gratitude for everything you’ve done for me and Kris. Thank you. I thank you endlessly.”

The Pharaoh rose from his throne and stepped down the few stairs. He kneeled down and lifted Adam back to his feet. When their eyes met, Adam was keenly aware of Kris in the room watching them.

With the Pharaoh’s hands still lingering on Adam’s arms, he said to Adam, “I did what I knew to be right. There’s no need for you to waste your breath.” Then his hands fell away from Adam’s arms and they stood facing each other.

Seeing as this would probably be the last time he would stand in the Pharaoh’s presence, Adam almost felt an obligation to lean up and kiss him or touch him somehow. But Adam could feel Kris’ presence behind him, and he wasn’t willing to renege on the promise he’d made to Kris to never again share his affections with another. The Pharaoh just smiled like he silently understood.

He said only loud enough for Adam to hear, “If I had someone like Kris, someone willing to do the things he did for you, I would never be untrue to them either.” He didn’t reach out to Adam. The Pharaoh looked down to his wrist and slid off a silver armband. He held it out for Adam. “It’s engraved with my seal. If you ever find yourself in a mix-up, this will get you out of trouble.”

Adam’s gaze fell to the armband and he took it carefully. “Thank you,” he said as he slid it onto his own arm. “And, I don’t mean to disagree with you but…” Adam looked up at the Pharaoh, then glanced quickly over to where Nesa was standing a ways away from them. “If I were you, I wouldn’t be so sure that I didn’t have my own Kris.” The Pharaoh’s gaze momentarily shifted to Nesa where she was softly conversing with one of the Pharaoh’s advisors. When she noticed her husband’s gaze she smiled shyly. “During the time Lady Merrick kept me chained in a cell during your absence, Nesa snuck in to take care of me. I got to know her enough that I can assure you she appreciates your company because she appreciates you. She’s never played the game your other wives did.” The Pharaoh’s gaze lingered for a few moments on the young woman Adam was speaking about.

When the Pharaoh finally looked back to Adam, he smiled. “Isn’t it time for you to be leaving? You’ve waited long enough for this day.”

Adam bowed his head. “Yes. Thank you, Your Majesty. May you be well.”

“I wish the same for you.”

Adam finally turned to leave, moving towards where Kris stood. As Adam walked away from the Pharaoh, he finally realized why he and the other man had seemed to be drawn to each other – why they’d found something like solace in each other. They shared the same lives with the same fears. Each of them had felt like people only sought them for self-benefit, the Pharaoh for his power, and Adam for his sexual promise. They had both lived solitary lives with the fear that no one would ever love or care for them simply because of the person they were.

But Adam had been fortunate enough to find Kris, and he would never want more or anyone else.

Kris smiled when he saw Adam coming over to meet him and he held out his hand. Adam took his hand and held onto it tightly.

“Servants packed up everything for us, some food, fresh clothes, and other supplies for traveling,” Kris said, gesturing to the pack on his back. Michael came up to stand with them. Adam looked up to Michael’s face before focusing on Kris’ again. He was silent for a few moments, just watching Kris and thinking about what was to become of the three of them now that Adam was freed and they were once again at liberty to go wherever.

Kris finally asked, “We’re not going home, are we?”

“Can we, after this? Even with the Pharaoh’s protection, I’m not sure I would feel safe there. And besides, was it really a ‘home’? It was where I worked for years and years. All I would be able to remember there is all the people I’ve served. I’m turning over a new page and moving on from that life, and moving somewhere new sounds like the best way to do that.”

Kris squeezed Adam’s hand. “My home is wherever you are.” Adam smiled at him and lifted a hand to touch his cheek.

Michael cut in, “How about we get out of here before you two start kissing in a way unfit for public places?”

Adam laughed, “Yes, let’s.” And with Kris at his right, an arm curled around the smaller man’s shoulders, and Michael on his other side, they left the palace.

 

The Pharaoh could not keep himself from watching them until they disappeared from view through the doorway. He was certain he would never forget Adam’s face or a single detail about him. He remembered the night when he’d first spoken with Adam about sharing his throne, and Adam had rebutted the offer. Adam had told the Pharaoh that any love he thought he felt for Adam he was only mistaking for the temporary excitement of lust. The Pharaoh wasn’t so sure Adam had been right. But it didn’t matter. Adam was entitled to the freedom that should never have been taken from him at all, and he deserved to spend his life with the man he loved and who made him happy. The Pharaoh knew – futile as the effort would surely be – the best thing for him to do would be to try and forget the man who’d woven such a spell over him.

“Pharaoh?”

The Pharaoh made himself turn away from the doorway Adam, Kris, and Michael had just walked through, and he turned towards Nesa. “Are you alright?” she asked.

The Pharaoh smiled and nodded. He curled an arm gently around her slim waist to draw her in against his side.

“I’ll be fine. As long as I’ve still got you, we’ll continue on together,” he said to her, and kissed her forehead.

“I’ll have to have a new throne built for you. A larger one.”

 

Adam, Kris, and Michael mounted three of the Pharaoh’s horses and set out for the tent. Before they went searching for a new place to live, they had to collect Adam’s chest filled with all the gold and jewels he had amassed. It was what would enable them to start a life somewhere new.

When they reached the tent, Michael went inside and carried the chest out to strap to the back of Adam’s horse. Adam and Kris stood inside, taking one final look around.

“There’s really only one thing I want to take with us from here,” Adam said, and Kris turned towards him to listen, “The memories of us.”

Kris smiled and moved to take one of Adam’s hands between his own.

“We’ll always have those. And we’re going to make plenty, plenty more.”

 

The three of them rode out towards the markets. They would take the trade routes that extended past the marketplace. As their horses slowed and the roads became crowded with people moving back and forth between merchants’ stalls, Michael told Adam, “We should stop for a few jugs of water while we’re here.” Adam nodded in agreement and dismounted.

Guiding their horses by the reigns, the three of them waded through the crowd, looking for a stand that sold water. Kris spotted one and pointed, and Adam followed him. Kris was already talking to the man standing behind the stand when Adam noticed that Michael wasn’t following behind them.

Adam looked back and saw Michael still standing a ways down the road. Adam was about to call out to him, but then stopped when he saw that Michael’s eyes were fixed unwaveringly towards something in the distance. He looked transfixed. Adam tapped Kris’ arm and handed him his own horse’s reigns while he went back to see what was the matter with Michael.

“Michael?” Adam asked when he reached the larger man’s side. Michael pointed in the direction where he’d been looking.

“That woman there. The one looking at the silks. Do you see her?” Adam squinted as he searched for her, then nodded. His eyes widened suddenly as he thought he recognized her.

Michael asked him, “Isn’t that Samira? She’s quite a bit older but…”

“No, I believe you’re right. It must be her.”

Adam turned towards Michael, watching him watching her. He still hadn’t looked away. Michael suddenly lurched forward, hurrying towards her.

Kris reappeared at Adam’s side then, holding three jugs filled with water. “Where is Michael going?” he asked.

“You see the woman standing there? With the yellow head wrap? Her name is Samira. She used to work for my father before she was sold. She’s the one Michael was in love with.”

 

“Samira,” Michael said in an urgent voice when he reached her. She turned around to find the source of the voice that had called her name. When she saw Michael, her eyes and mouth fell open into matching displays of shock. She was silent for a few long seconds as she struggled to process the sight of him. He couldn’t look away from the beautiful, wet pools of her dark brown eyes.

She exclaimed his name in shock, “Michael!” and then she was throwing herself against his chest. Michael was easily twice her size and he could effortlessly crush her in an instant. With the shocking disparity of their sizes, he held her with surprising tenderness, holding her gently against him, yet the trembling of his hands gave away the desperateness of the embrace.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her, pushing her back gently so he could see her face. “You were sold….I remember the day he took you away..”

“My master passed away. He was elderly and ill. He left me a sum of money at his death though, and I’ve been living a simple life on my own in these parts.” She reached for him again, and he cupped her cheek tenderly with one hand.

Adam and Kris had followed Michael over and when Adam spoke Samira’s name, she pulled back from Michael, looking a little embarrassed. When she turned to look at Adam, another shocked expression came to her face.

“Adam? Is that you?”

“Indeed. How surprising it is to see you here! I didn’t think I would ever see you again.”

“I didn’t either. It’s good to see you well.”

“As it is you.” Adam put an arm around Kris’ waist, pulling him forward slightly. “Samira, this is Kris.”

She greeted him with a smile and an, “It’s nice to meet you.” Kris nodded the same and bowed his head slightly to her.

“Michael, have you been with Adam all this time?” Samira asked, looking back to Michael.

Michael nodded, “I helped him escape the house not long after you were sold. We traveled here together and we’ve been here since. Recently we came into a bit of trouble with the royal family. It’s all resolved now, but we were looking to travel and find somewhere new to live…” When Michael fell silent, he stepped closer to Samira again and slid one arm around her small frame. “Adam, I don’t think I can go with you and Kris.” She rested one hand on his broad chest, looking up at his face hopefully.

Adam’s face was unreadable, the line of his mouth serious as he nodded. “I know, Michael. I understand.”

“That would be alright, Samira? If I stayed with you and…”

“Hush, Michael. You ask the silliest questions.”

Kris noticed Adam reaching a hand inside his traveling robes, searching for something.

“Michael,” Adam said, bringing Michael’s attention back to him from watching Samira adoringly. Adam produced a large leather pouch from the inside pocket of his robes. Kris had seen him pick up a handful of gold pieces from his chest earlier and store them in the pouch for accessibility.

“Take this,” Adam instructed, holding it out to Michael. “I won’t take no as an answer.”

“Adam,” Michael said with a sigh, about to protest.

Adam cut him off, “No, for years you haven’t let me pay you for all you do for me. Shut your mouth and take this.”

Michael sighed, just eyeing the pouch for a few seconds before finally reaching out to take it. Adam smiled, about to say something, but Michael roped him in, wrapping his arms around Adam and pulling him into an almost crushing hug. Adam threw his arms around Michael’s shoulders and pushed his face in against Michael’s shoulder. Michael practically smothered him, lifting him clear off the ground.

After he set Adam down again, he pulled back to look at him, his big hands still holding onto Adam’s arms. “You take damn good care of yourself. And if I ever hear that you opened a new business, you better believe I will come find you and bust the pretty right off your face.”

Adam laughed, shaking his head. “That’s one concern you can do away with. Kris is everything for me.”

“And Kris!” Michael continued, looking over at him. “You do anything bad to Adam and you’ll have me to answer to.”

“Another needless concern, Michael,” Kris said dismissively before Michael came over to hug him as well – much more gently though.

Before he pulled back, Kris heard Michael murmur near his ear, “You have no idea how happy you’ve made Adam. Thank you for saving him.”

“Thank you for taking care of him until I came along,” Kris responded, “You don’t have to worry. For the rest of our lives, I’m going to love him and look after him.”

“You’re a good kid, Kris. I always liked you,” Michael said with a smile, ruffling Kris’ hair a bit.

On his way back to Samira’s side, Michael hugged Adam one more time. Then he slid the pack off of his own back and handed it to Adam. “Here, you and Kris still have to travel.”

Adam nodded and slid the pack onto his own back. “Kris and I should get back to the horses.” Michael nodded as he returned to Samira’s side. “Took good care of him, Samira,” Adam said with a smile, “He’s a once-in-a-lifetime catch.”

“Oh, don’t worry. I know,” she said, smiling brightly as she slid a hand into Michael’s. Michael was watching Kris and Adam with the closest thing to a teary smile that a man his size could possibly display.

“Farewell, you two. May fortune be with you,” Michael called as Kris and Adam started walking away and back towards where the horses were tied.

Adam and Kris linked hands, and reached their other hands high into the air to wave goodbye.

 

“Sir, you’re really sure you want to pay all at once?”

Adam responded to the man with a smile, nodding his head as he said, “Yes, quite sure.” He waved a hand in Kris’ direction, and Kris led the horse over towards Adam that had Adam’s chest of gold and jewels strapped onto its back.

Adam reached up to open the chest and he sifted his hands through all of its contents. He lifted out a few small pouches to peek inside them. He finally consolidated their various contents all into a single larger bag. Kris watched with wide eyes as Adam poured in some glimmering diamonds, shining gold coins, and other beautiful, valuable stones. Adam closed the bag – now heavy with all its contents - before holding it out to the man. “There should be more than enough in there.”

The man took the bag carefully and peeked inside. “Yes, yes indeed,” he said as he closed the bag again, looking a bit shocked. He gestured back to the small house they were standing in front of. “Would you like to keep the old furniture or shall I have it all removed so it can be furnished anew?”

Adam looked towards his partner, “What do you think, Kris? I find it plenty cozy with the furniture it already has.”

“Yes, it suits me fine.”

“Well, then it looks like we’re all settled,” said the man, reaching out to shake Adam’s hand. “Thank you.” Adam thanked him in return before the man mounted his camel and departed from the small house where he had once lived but had just sold to a new owner.

Adam looked back to their new house and couldn’t help but grin as he drew Kris in close against his side. Adam nuzzled his nose against the side of Kris’ head and Kris giggled, smiling.

“You do like it, right?” Adam asked for what seemed the umpteenth time.

“Of course I do! What, did you think I was lying earlier when I said I loved it? I mean really…” Kris leaned in against Adam’s side as he looked up at the house that stood before them, “It’s the perfect size…a little roomier than your tent was but it’s still cozy. It has a fireplace so it’ll stay warm, and it’s very sturdy, so we’ll be fine in severe weather.” Kris tilted his head to the side, leaning against Adam’s shoulder as he smiled up at him, “I really, really love it.”

Adam covered Kris’ mouth in the briefest of sweet kisses.

“I’m glad,” Adam murmured once he pulled away. He straightened up again, looking up at their new home with a broad smile. “I can’t believe it,” Adam murmured, half to Kris and half to himself. While Adam stood there looking both mystified and overjoyed beyond words, Kris slid his arms around Adam’s middle and gave him a light squeeze. Adam’s gaze turned downwards to Kris as he said, “I’m finally looking at it. The little house where I get to spend forever with the person I love. The same person who loves me.” And Adam could do nothing but kiss Kris once more before they made their way inside.

 

The house was small and simple, but suited them perfectly. It had only three rooms – a kitchen, a lounge area, and a bedroom. The kitchen was plenty large enough for any of Kris’ culinary undertakings. The bedroom held a bed, two chests of drawers, and a vanity table.

They had only been able to take with them what would fit onto the backs of their horses. So Kris and Adam unpacked their few respective articles of clothing, belongings, and the few furnishings they had been able to carry for the house. Adam told Kris the first thing they would do the next day would be to find the nearest marketplace and replace all the important things they hadn’t been able to carry with them. And Adam intended on making good on his old promise to Kris to buy him all the new tunics he wanted, after Kris had despaired when his tunic had been ruined by his bloodstains in the palace.

That night, they climbed into their new bed for the first time – together. This bed was notably larger than the one they had shared back in the tent. But this new one was also much more comfortable. The pair crawled between the sheets fully clad in nightclothes, and quickly became tangled up together under the blanket.

After a few whispered conversations and light kisses in the dark, they both began nodding off. But before he fell off into sleep, Kris had a thought he had to voice.

“Y’know, Adam…I’ve never really felt like I had a home. After my mother sold me. First it was constant traveling with that merchant caravan, then Dallon, whose house was the farthest thing from any kind of home. I found you, and started living together with you…but the tent was still yours, or at least,…it felt that way. But this…” Kris murmured with a smile, snuggling closer in Adam’s arms. “This place, this home…it’s ours. A place I know is mine too. I finally have a real home.”

Kris wasn’t sure whether or not Adam was still awake to hear him, but it didn’t matter. Kris lightly kissed Adam’s lips one more time before laying his head on Adam’s shoulder and drifting off into sleep.

 

When Kris awoke the next morning, it took him a moment to remember where he was and why the bed was so ridiculously comfy. When it came back to him that he and Adam had found their new house, a sleepy grin spread across Kris’ face. Then he noticed a few seconds later that the bed was empty save for himself, and he sat up.

He looked over and saw Adam sitting in front of the vanity table that stood next to the bed. Adam had been humming to himself softly while dabbing a foundation powder across his face. He had already combed his hair out and pushed the long strands behind a bandana. When Adam saw Kris awake, he smiled wide and placed his applicator down.

“Morning, darling,” he said before leaning across to give Kris a light kiss good morning. Kris’ only response was a huge, sleepy grin. Adam soon turned back to the vanity table mirror and went back to dabbing his powder on.

“When we go to the markets today I’ll have to replace all the makeup I couldn’t bring along,” Adam thought aloud, his eyes not straying from the mirror.

Kris couldn’t help but frown the slightest bit as he observed his lover. He wondered why Adam was going through the whole process of applying makeup today, and why he was replacing it all. Kris had always understood Adam’s makeup to be a part of his old job – a way to make himself look more desirable to potential customers. So why was Adam bothering, now that the job was in his past? Kris didn’t quite understand, but he said nothing.

Despite his puzzlement, Kris was still entranced as he watched Adam. Kris rolled onto his stomach and rested his chin on a pillow as he watched the deft movement of Adam’s hands. Kris remained silent for a while, just watching Adam, until Adam’s eyes flitted over in Kris’ direction and Adam smiled a bit.

“You’re going to make me mess up, staring like that.”

“I can’t help it,” Kris said, his gaze still fixed on Adam, “And aren’t you mine to look at as much as I like?”

“I suppose that’s true,” Adam said as he dipped his fingers into a skin-toned powder.

“How can you expect me to look anywhere else? You’re spellbinding.”

A perfectly carefree smile appeared on Adam’s face and his hands stilled as he turned to face Kris.

“Only you could say something like that.”

“I know I’m not the first to think it.”

“You’re the only one who makes me happy, when I know you think that.”

“Well then it’s lucky for you that I think much more than just that. I love everything about you.”

At this point, Adam had to get up and move over towards the bed and Kris.

“As do I,” Adam whispered, leaning over so his mouth was close to Kris’, “Especially the sweet way you talk, that gets my heart feeling happier than it ever has.”

Adam lightly cupped Kris’ face before leaning in to kiss him. Kris reached up for Adam, but the other man was already pulling away. Kris did his best to hold back a disappointed expression. Adam always seemed to pull away so quickly from their kisses.

“Would you like me to fix you something to eat?” Adam asked as he moved back to the vanity table and his hands began moving over his face again, “We did pack some of your bread before we left yesterday. But that’s all we have until we visit the markets later.”

Kris just spread himself out on his front in bed, hugging a pillow under himself. “No, I’m fine just staying here watching you.”

Adam arched an eyebrow and turned to look at Kris with a slightly amused expression.

“What?” Kris asked with a smile, “You’re so beautiful. Watching you is like the finest delicacy for my eyes. Why would I ever want to get up while you’re sitting there?”

Adam gave the slightest shake of his head, but had a smile on his face as he turned back towards the mirror. “I love you,” he said, watching Kris in the mirror.

Kris smiled wide as he rested his chin down on his folded arms. “I love you too.”

 

When the two returned from the markets that afternoon, their arms were overflowing with all the wares they’d bought and there were dozens of trunks and bags strapped to the backs of their horses.

“Adam,” Kris huffed as he dumped his armful of bags onto the kitchen table, “This house is only the slightest bit larger than our old tent. Then how does it seem we bought twice the amount of belongings that we ever had in the tent?”

Adam just smiled a bit as he set his own bags down on the floor. “But now, in this house, we’re living our perfect ending together, after all of our struggles. We can have some extra belongings, some indulgences.”

“But we’re going to live solely from the contents of your trunk? All of the riches you’ve collected? I don’t see how you can really expect we’ll be able to live wealthy lifestyles without having to work again…”

“Kris,” Adam silenced the other man. “You’ve never gotten a good look into that trunk. Kris, I was the most highly sought-after prostitute in all of Egypt. Every man who ever shared my bed paid a small fortune to do so. Until now, I never had anything…or anyone..,” he smiled briefly at Kris, “to spend my riches on. It was all saved, aside from the small amount Michael and I needed to live on. The treasures I collected in a single year would have been enough for the two of us to lead simple lives from. But I was in business for years, and my fee only increased with time. So believe me, my darling Kris, when I say that I won’t have you wasting even a moment thinking about money. We’re rich men.”

And before Kris could even have a chance to say anything more, Adam walked over behind the smaller man and put his arms around him with a wide smile. He kissed the side of Kris’ head before saying to him gently, “Before anything else, I want you to try on all those splendid new clothes we bought for you.” Kris rolled his eyes with a small laugh.

“You mean those silky, silly-looking excuses for clothes?” Kris asked playfully. He’d never imagined owning the kind of fine clothing Adam had bought for him.

“Mmhm, exactly those,” Adam responded with a grin, giving Kris’ ear a little nip. “You were so upset in the palace when that old tunic I bought you was ruined with blood. If it means that much to you when I buy you things, how can I do anything but oblige you?” Kris just laughed a little as he leaned down to pick up the bag that held all his new clothes.

“Alright, fine. You stay out here, I’ll change in the bedroom and then come parade around a bit for you.”

“Splendid,” Adam said with a grin and an easy smile.

He was sure, for the remainder of his life, he was never going to have another care again.

 

The next morning, Kris walked the short distance out to the well to retrieve a bucket of water to cook breakfast with. He had left Adam still asleep in bed, with the intention of having their breakfast ready when Adam awoke. When Kris returned to the house, he set out all of the ingredients he would need and immediately got to cooking. When breakfast was ready a little while later, Kris walked to the bedroom to see if Adam was awake. When he parted the curtains in the doorway, he frowned a bit when he saw Adam sitting in front of the mirror. He was once again slathering makeup all over his face.

Without really thinking, Kris couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you still do that? You know you don’t need to wear it for me. You’re much more beautiful without all that slop.”

Without looking at Kris, Adam just seemed to smile to himself a little bit, resigned as he dipped his fingers back into the tub of foundation.

“I have to. Can’t think of a day when I haven’t.”

Kris bit his lip at Adam’s easy, nonchalant answer. From Kris’ perspective, the makeup seemed to mean so much more for Adam than just a casual habit. But Kris did his best to push those thoughts aside and remember why he’d come to get Adam in the first place.

“I prepared breakfast for us both. Your favorite.” Adam turned away from the mirror to give Kris a dazzling smile Kris couldn’t help but return.

“You did? I’ll be right out as soon as I’m finished. Don’t worry, I’ll work quickly.”

Easily and happily, Kris moved over to Adam and wrapped his arms around his shoulders. When Adam smiled, Kris kissed the side of his forehead.

Back in the kitchen, thoughts of Adam’s deeply-set makeup routine returned to the forefront of Kris’ mind. If Kris hadn’t gone through the same experiences with Adam in the palace, didn’t know without a shred of doubt that Adam had completely and totally given up his old life, then…Kris would have thought that nothing changed. Adam still wore all the makeup like before, still dressed in all the same kind of clothes as before. He remained so seductive and alluring. It seemed like he was still expecting potential customers to stroll through the door at any moment, and he was ready to flirt and tease and seduce. Kris didn’t like the thought, and cared even less for his failure to understand the lack of change in Adam’s behavior.

 

Kris’ concerns from the morning had quickly dissipated as he spent the day in blissful happiness with Adam. But he couldn’t count himself completely safe from worries until the day was over.

That night, they both prepared for bed as usual – both getting fully dressed in comfortable nightclothes before sliding in between the sheets of their bed. Kris immediately pulled Adam into his arms as soon as the older man was within reach. Adam smiled wide, laughing softly as Kris curled himself around him and nuzzled his nose in against Adam’s neck.

“I love the way you curl up to me, like my own little monkey,” Adam said adoringly with a chuckle. Kris made a little face, but just cuddled closer to Adam.

“Don’t poke fun at me for wanting to be as close to you as possible.”

“I’m not poking fun, Kris. I really do love it. And you.” Adam moved a hand to stroke Kris’ cheek, and Kris raised his head at the touch. As Adam caressed Kris’ cheek, their eyes met and the connection that instantly formed was deep and hot. Kris slid the little ways up so he could reach Adam’s mouth and kiss him deeply. Instead of pulling away like they usually did after a few short seconds, Kris threw his arms up around Adam’s neck and held on. Adam didn’t pull away, and didn’t stop Kris from diving back in for more after he’d had to pull back to gasp for air. Even though Adam kissed back, Kris’ sudden desire didn’t let him see that Adam wasn’t responding with quite the same desperate urgency.

Adam wrapped his arms around Kris’ smaller form – not pulling him closer, just holding him. But still, Kris let out the smallest moan before hungrily kissing Adam again. Adam tensed the slightest bit, imperceptibly, when he heard Kris’ moan. Kris was too far lost to notice anyway. While he kissed Adam, one of his hands moved down his body. Kris’ hand landed with deliberate pressure across the exact place where Adam’s cock rested in his pants. Adam’s body froze and entirely stiffened.

“What are you doing?” Adam whispered, voice hoarse.

Still not picking up on Adam’s reaction, Kris said with a desperate edge to his words, “I know we haven’t before…but I-..I’ve wanted it for so long..” Adam suddenly looked horrified. He pulled away from Kris entirely, and it wasn’t until then that Kris saw the upset and deeply disturbed expression on the other man’s face.

“You…..you’ve wanted this?” Adam asked in a soft, weak voice. Kris sat up in bed, puzzled by Adam’s reaction and watching him with concern.

“Well,..yes. Of course. How could I not want you?”

Adam’s expression was blank, empty, shocked. He looked as if someone had rammed a knife through his abdomen.

“Adam, what-..what’s wrong?” Kris asked softly, nervously as he watched the expression of horror washing over Adam’s face. “Are you upset at me for this? How can I help wanting you? …You-…you’re so…”

Adam suddenly whirled away from Kris, facing the opposite direction and leaning over as he sat perched on the edge of the bed. His hands came up to cover his face, and he was shaking.

“…Adam..” Kris stammered, reaching out to put his hand on Adam’s shoulder. The moment he touched him, Adam sprang up from the bed.

“Don’t touch me,” Adam suddenly spit in a voice akin to a hiss. But then his voice broke into weakness when he added, “…please.” And then Adam turned and rushed from the room, leaving Kris bewildered and concerned and hurt on the bed.

After sitting there for a few moments in helpless shock, Kris scrambled to his feet. “Adam! Adam, wait!” He hurriedly searched the small house, but couldn’t find a trace of the lover whom he’d unintentionally spurned. Desperate, Kris rushed outside. It wasn’t until then that he finally caught sight of Adam – sitting curled up upon the sand, beside the door.

“Adam-..” Kris breathed, moving to kneel down beside the other man. Adam immediately curled in tighter to himself, as quickly and desperately as if the action were a survival instinct.

“Stay away from me!” Adam whispered fiercely, brokenly from where his head was hidden behind his arms. “Don’t touch me…” he repeated from the bedroom.

“Adam,” Kris tried again, hurt by Adam’s stern rebuttal. This time Kris remained standing, and didn’t try to move nearer to Adam. “How can you think you have to say things like that to me? It’s me….it’s Kris. You know how much I care for you, how much I love you…”

“How can I believe you now?!” Adam cried, his voice half rough and demanding, and half utterly vulnerable. He looked out only the slightest bit from under his arms, only lifting his head slightly. He whispered brokenly, “How can I know you’re any different from the others?”

It wasn’t until then that Kris started to understand.

“Adam…how can you think that?” Kris said softly, a little bit hurt but mostly just concerned for the other man and how visibly hurt he was by Kris’ actions. Kris had thought physical love was the natural, easy next step for them,…but clearly, Adam had a different view on the subject. Kris tried to get through to him, “You know all that we’ve gone through together. How can you forget the risks, the sacrifices I threw myself into for you,…to save you when that disease was taking your life? But now you…you’re guilting me for the natural desires every person has? That’s not fair, Adam…you’re faulting me for being human.”

Adam was silent in response. The only movement Kris could see from him was his fingers clenching and unclenching in his long hair, where his head was buried beneath his arms again.

“You ask me how I’m different from the others?” Kris continued softly, trying so hard to make Adam see that he’d never meant to upset or hurt him. “I love you, Adam. I’d do anything for you, and I’ve proven that. My love is something you can’t deny. Physical wants…they’re part of that love. My desires stem only from that love...” Kris’ voice trailed off as he could tell none of his words were reaching Adam in his current state.

After a few seconds, Adam started shaking his head desperately to himself. He murmured, not to Kris directly but aloud all the same, “I thought…I thought our affections went past the physical. I thought it was more…I thought you saw me for more…”

Kris sunk down into the sand beside Adam. “You know I do. Oh Adam,…please, please don’t let this one action break all your faith in me.” Kris reached out for him, and this time Adam didn’t shrink back when Kris drew him in against himself. After a few seconds, Adam was clinging to Kris in return, his face pressed against Kris’ shoulder. As Kris held him, he considered whether he should apologize. But as bad as he felt for upsetting Adam, he didn’t see fault in what he’d done. Kris bit his lip and tugged Adam closer.

They remained like that for a long while before Kris was able to coax Adam back to bed. Once they were both under the covers, Kris slowly and tentatively reached out for Adam and was relieved when Adam didn’t stop Kris from holding him. Adam laid still and quiet in bed – not giving a hint to the panic and turmoil stirred up within him after learning about Kris’ feelings. He closed his eyes against the stabbing pain in his chest. It felt like heartbreak.

 

In the following days, despite his best efforts to the contrary, Adam couldn’t help seeing Kris differently. He felt as if his entire perspective of Kris – and their relationship as a whole - had been inverted and splintered. During the moments when he managed to still think rationally, Adam knew that this new revelation changed nothing about Kris’ actions for him in the past. He owed Kris his life, and Kris had done more for him than simple words could express. But Adam had believed up until now that when Kris said he loved Adam, the love was nonsexual, nonphysical. Knowing now that Kris saw him through the colorings of lust and desire…it shook Adam’s faith in the other man. He’d relied on Kris as his safe haven from all those dark, dirty desires of humanity, the same he’d spent his whole life as a slave to. He’d thought Kris would never look at him with want. Just love. Pure, untainted love, for reasons that had nothing to do with physicality. Now, it seemed all that had been ruined. Suddenly, Adam found himself lost. The anchor Kris provided for him and that he had become so dependent on, had suddenly been dislodged.

 

Kris and Adam were preparing their supper together. The air in the kitchen was empty – devoid of any conversation -, as had become customary lately. Neither of them liked it, but neither of them knew how to undo the change. Kris was skinning and cutting potatoes, while Adam stoked the stove and heated some water on its top. Kris looked up from his work. He was missing an ingredient.

“Could you get me the salt?” Kris asked, as Adam was standing nearer to the cabinets. Adam nodded and brought it over to him, then stood at Kris’ side and watched him finish with the potatoes. When Kris finished, he scooped the potatoes onto a plate and then moved to carry them over to the stove. As he passed behind Adam, he passed a hand lightly, rather thoughtlessly, along Adam’s waist. Adam stiffened slightly at the touch. But Kris noticed, and frowned as he quickly withdrew his hand.

They ate silently, sitting across from each other at the table. Every so often, Kris glanced up to watch Adam for a few seconds. He couldn’t believe Adam had become so distant. When Kris thought back on what had happened between them, he always felt a touch of guilt before the irritation and confusion regarding Adam’s behavior. Adam had been the one to pull away since the night Kris had revealed the desire that for a long time he hadn’t realized he’d had. But it had developed naturally as he and Adam spent time together in intimacy. Kris couldn’t think it wrong. It wasn’t.

Kris knew Adam well. He understood how Adam viewed sex differently than others. To him, it was an act completely opposite from affection, tenderness, and love. Sex had been fixed irreversibly in pain, force, unpleasantries Kris didn’t want to dwell on. But Adam had been acting so closed-off towards him since that night, and Kris didn’t understand how Adam could really think he had to fear any of those terrible things from Kris. With desire or without it, Kris was still the same Kris. He still loved Adam the same.

As Kris finished his food, he noticed his hand resting on the table just beside Adam’s. A few days ago, their hands would have already been linked.

“Adam?” Kris asked softly, finally breaking the thick silence that had settled into the room. Adam looked up at him from his own plate questioningly.

“Would you…” Kris started just as softly, wiggling his fingers a little bit, “Hold my hand?” In all honesty, Kris was afraid that if he reached out himself for Adam’s hand, the other man might pull his away.

Adam seemed to pause for a short moment, his gaze turning downwards to Kris’ hand lying open on the table. Adam did his best to smile a little. He slid his fingers slowly in between Kris’. His movements almost seemed cautious, and Kris swallowed back the sudden flash of anger and hurt in him. He just closed his own fingers gently over Adam’s.

“You know-…” Kris’ voice cracked. He cleared his throat before trying again, “You know that I love you, don’t you?”

Adam’s eyes quickly fled from Kris to the floor. Kris could see his throat work as he swallowed hard. His expression looked to be in pain.

“I-I know, Kris,” he whispered weakly. The next moment, he was withdrawing his hand from Kris’. He picked up his empty dishes from the table, set them down on the counter, and left the room.

Kris looked back to his empty hand resting on the table, doing his best not to feel hurt (even though it wasn’t really working). He closed his hand again, this time around only air.

 

Adam retired early that night. When Kris came to bed, Adam was in the far side of the bed, lying on his side with his back to Kris. Kris slid in next to him. He stayed on the other side of the bed. Usually they still slept curled together, but after so many rebuffs from Adam that day, Kris was afraid to risk another.

Kris laid on his back in silence, just listening to Adam’s breathing. He could tell by the uneven rhythm of it that he was still awake.

“Adam,” Kris said softly. He knew that Adam heard him, even though he didn’t respond. “Please, please just hear me through once. I know you…don’t like thinking about sex and me together, in any way. I know that, to you, sex can only be something dark and bad. I know I haven’t had the experiences you’ve had, I’ve never had sex at all before, but…I have a different idea about it that I wish you’d listen to. Sex…can be nice, beautiful even. If there’s love in it, if the two people really love and care about each other, it turns into more. It’s more than just physical. Adam, if-…if it was us, it would be different, so different than what you’ve had before. It wouldn’t be sex at all. It would be…lovemaking. And I know it would be wonderful.”

Adam was silent for a few seconds before his weak, “Please don’t, Kris.” Kris noticed Adam curl in on himself a bit. “I can’t…I just can’t,” Adam whispered. “I can’t bear thinking about it, Kris…you in the same place all my countless, nameless customers have been. You seeing me the same way all of them did…”

“But I wouldn’t!” Kris protested, sitting up suddenly in bed. “I could never! That’s what you don’t understand. I care so much about you. You could never be just some kind of…of fuck for me. I love you for everything about you. I don’t want you just for your body, like them. I know you’re just as beautiful inside, and that’s what I want.”

But Adam was already shaking his head. Already murmuring, “I’m sorry. I can’t. I can’t…”

Kris laid back down on his side of the bed. His eyes wouldn’t close in sleep for a while. He was angry now, angry at Adam and his constant refusal to attempt open-mindedness. Kris knew Adam had gone through many horrible things in his life, but now he wasn’t making any attempt to move on.

Kris had done a lot for Adam. Risked everything, his very life even, when he knew Adam could die from the disease. But now – after everything was resolved and Adam was safe and alive thanks in a large part to Kris’ actions, Kris thought Adam seemed unwilling to take any risks of his own. He wouldn’t attempt any kind of physical relationship with Kris. He wouldn’t push himself, wouldn’t tread out from his comfort zone to face a new experience with Kris. Kris didn’t think it was fair.

 

A week later, Kris woke up with the lingering remnants of the anger he’d fallen asleep with the night before. He and Adam had argued again. Again, over their lack of a physical relationship. Adam wouldn’t budge on the issue. Kris couldn’t let it go. At this point, it wasn’t so much the sex itself they disagreed about. It was more the fact that they were at odds with each other, upset that they couldn’t reconcile, and frustrated that the other never seemed to attempt to understand the other side of the issue. It was like they were disagreeing about disagreeing.

Kris rolled out of bed. They slept rather strictly on their opposite sides of the bed these days. A quick survey of the kitchen reminded Kris that a restocking of food and cooking items was badly needed. He wouldn’t mind going to the markets this early. It would get him away from Adam for a little while.

He stepped back into the bedroom to quickly change into pants, a casual tunic, and a traveling robe. He didn’t bother making sure Adam was still asleep. The other man wouldn’t be interested in watching anyway.

Kris moved over to Adam’s side of the bed, where Adam was still tangled up in the blankets. Kris leaned over the bed to tell him softly, “I’m going to the markets. I’ll take just a little bit of gold, alright?”

As Kris picked out a handful of small, rounded gold pieces from the pouch sitting atop the dresser, Adam blearily opened his eyes and stretched.

“Mmm, alright,” Adam mumbled sleepily.

Kris turned, moving to leave the room when Adam said suddenly, still in his lazy, half-awake voice, “Wait, Kris.”

His hand reached up to grab Kris’ wrist, to hold him there for a moment. When Kris paused and leaned over the bed again, Adam lifted himself up on his elbows to give Kris’ lips a quick kiss. “Be safe,” Adam murmured as he laid back down again.

Kris stood frozen for a few seconds, as Adam had unknowingly and unintentionally wrapped Kris up in him all over again. And Kris had to stop for a few seconds and just look at him – spread out in bed on his back, his eyes fluttered closed, his fingers holding onto the top of the blanket, his long hair fanned out all across the pillow. He looked so achingly, effortlessly beautiful, and Kris loved him just as much as he always had. It was so unfair. Moments like this, when Adam wasn’t even trying, he could make Kris forget all the reasons why he should be angry with him.

“I always am,” Kris said softly, mindlessly reassuring him. He kissed Adam’s forehead before he left.

 

It was late morning when Kris returned, carrying bags and sacks in his arms. He set them all down on the table in the kitchen. He peeked into the bedroom to see whether Adam was still sleeping. Kris’ lips immediately pinched into a frown when he saw Adam sitting at the vanity table.

Adam was wearing a thin, white sleeveless top. The straps were skinny, leaving his broad shoulders exposed. The garment hung loose under his arms, leaving stretches of creamy, freckled skin. The shirt straps dipped down low in the front. Every time he moved, the garment would resettle, sometimes covering his nipples, sometimes not. His bottom half was clad in form-fitting black pants. They hugged his thighs, and made his ass the first thing any pair of eyes had to look at. The peacock feather earring dangled from the rod in his ear, and his hair had already been combed. Now he was masterfully applying kohl to the edges of his eyes. He had already powdered his face down, and painted extra colors around his eyes.

Watching him suddenly made Kris furious. The range of things he’d been upset about in the past weeks all seemed to suddenly combine and well up. Adam looked stunning and dazzling, beyond beautiful. But beyond that – he looked alluring. Kris remembered Adam telling him that he’d been the most highly-sought prostitute in the country, and when he looked like this, it wasn’t hard to understand why. He’d stir up desire in anyone who saw him right now.

And Kris was Adam’s lover, and forbidden from touching him.

It was when Adam started painting a sinfully dark red across his lips that Kris had to speak.

“I thought you were done with seducing people. Then why do you still dress like that and slather your damned makeup on?”

Adam jumped a little when he heard Kris’ voice so suddenly. Then he took in what Kris said and his eyes fell away from the mirror. He didn’t turn around to look at Kris. He just neatly fit the lid back over the red lip tint. He didn’t know what to make of what Kris had said, but he picked up the undertone of insult.

“I have to be beautiful,” Adam said in a tone of voice that wordlessly conveyed ‘Kris, you just don’t understand.’  
“Being beautiful got me the money I’ve lived on – what we’re living on now. It’s what got the Pharaoh’s attention, and let me escape from the palace. Beauty has gotten me all the things important enough to be grateful for.”

“It’s not what got you me,” Kris said softly.

He refused to speak in the tense moments of silence that followed. At first, Adam didn’t turn to look at Kris. When he finally, slowly, did – his expression was unreadable. But finally, this lethargic, sad smile spread across his face. It chilled Kris to the bone.

“Then what did, Kris?”

Kris’ eyes were unable to leave Adam’s, locked in some kind of stare down. Then he responded, “Your looks may have been what I noticed the very first time I met you, but they’re not what made me fall in love with you. And you think it was your beauty that won you your escape from the palace? The Pharaoh cared about you. As much as I don’t like it, I wouldn’t doubt that he loved you. He fought that battle in the palace for you – fought against his own family. He wanted to give you his kingdom. That doesn’t just happen because he appreciates your looks, Adam. It’s because he appreciates what’s underneath. If it was about beauty, none of the Pharaoh’s wives would be in banishment. They were plenty beautiful.

“If you ask me, it was your looks that got you into servitude in the palace. Looks were all Lord Merrick cared about. It was all he wanted you for, and he had no qualms about selling you out to his wife. Your looks are what used to get you injured, when customers got too rough. Looks are…what made your father see you as a way to make money.” Adam’s face went slack and shocked at that, but Kris continued, “And y-you’re wearing clothes like this every day. Putting on the makeup that makes you look like some kind of sex toy, no matter how many times I tell you you look better without it. And then you’re angry at me for wanting you…”

Kris had tears in his eyes by now. He wasn’t quite sure where all he was saying was coming from. Now he found his emotions all boiling up within him – the culmination of all the frustration and hurt and rejection he’d been feeling between himself and Adam lately. And as one of his tears trickled over and pattered down his cheek, he felt a sudden lurch in his heart.

The second Kris’ tear fell, the stunned stillness that had taken hold of Adam cracked, and he was stumbling to his feet, reaching out to Kris. But his feet were frozen, as if he wasn’t sure whether he could just walk through the permeable veil of Kris’ words that still lingered in the air. “Don’t cry, Kris, please don’t…”

Kris didn’t want to hear it. He went on, “And how can you say you’ve never known sex to be good? We both know you had customers you enjoyed. And the Pharaoh? I doubt you dreaded getting into bed with him,” Kris’ voice turned bitter as he wiped the back of his hand across his eyes in attempt to get rid of the wetness there. What had happened between Adam and the Pharaoh was still a sore spot for him. Kris could remember all too clearly when he’d come to see Adam in his illness, and had burst into the room to find Adam clutching the Pharaoh’s hand.

Adam said nothing, shocked by such an outburst from Kris. Kris’ words stirred up horrible, ugly guilt in him. He had never really given thought to his day-to-day habits, or how some of his actions in the past could have hurt Kris this much…

“But that doesn’t matter,” Kris said softly, mumbling now as he stood there rubbing the backs of his fists over his eyes. He looked so small and hurt, Adam wanted to wrap him up in his arms until he was comforted. But Adam himself was the reason for this, and he couldn’t take a step closer to Kris.

Kris started again, his voice soft and weak now, “I…I love you so much. But I’m starting to think you’ll never really open up to me. You don’t want me to have all of you, and you don’t want all of me. Even though I’ve already given it, you’re not interested because you won’t open up the same way. You’ll always hide behind something, you’ll always hold something back.”

“Kris, I…I didn’t…” Adam tried to whisper, trying to get something out between himself and all of Kris’ words and the other man’s pain that came with them. Adam was utterly stunned, feeling like every ounce of air had been painfully sucked from his lungs, because this was so, so much more than had been between them before.

But Kris was already turning away from him. The tears Kris had been keeping confined to his eyes were running down his face now. “I’ve tried to be what you needed. Tried to help you find peace from everything in your past. I even risked my life to save you. But Michael was right…you’ll never really escape your father. Because you won’t try.”

Then Kris was gone, fleeing from the little house that was supposed to be their shared safe haven from the world. He was crying unabashedly now. He couldn’t help it.

Back in the bedroom, Adam stood frozen – a statue in the middle of the room. He thought he’d known in his life the worst, most painful kinds of suffering. He’d been wrong. This was a new kind entirely, and it hurt like nothing had before.

He couldn’t let Kris leave. He cried the younger man’s name as he tripped over his own frozen feet, desperate to get outside in time to catch Kris. But as he fell through the door, he saw Kris on the back of one of their horses, disappearing into the landscape of the infinite desert. He was already too far away for Adam to give chase.

It seemed like ages, standing there, watching the unfeeling stretches of the desert. They didn’t bring Kris back to him. The colorings of the sky had begun to shift, to darken, by the time Adam finally returned to the house. He went immediately to their bedroom, to the vanity table. He sat there numbly, looking into himself in the mirror, struggling through the dark, tangled mess of emotions that were brewing like a storm within him. He looked at his own face. The red on his lips, the black smeared around his eyes, the shimmering eye shadow.

He looked ridiculous.

He cursed as he snatched a cloth from the tabletop and started roughly wiping the damn stuff away. He didn’t stop until every speck of it was gone, and his skin was red from the rubbing. When he was done he felt raw and bare. The only time his skin was usually free of makeup was when he slept. He wasn’t used to the feeling. A disturbing thought suddenly came to him, that maybe it wasn’t solely because of customers that he’d developed the habit of makeup. Maybe, unknowingly, he’d been doing it for years to hide himself.

Suddenly, he swiped his arm across the tabletop, sending a handful of makeup pots and tubes crashing to the ground. He looked back up at the mirror. Hot anger coursed through him. He didn’t want to look at himself. He picked up the bottle of lip tint and threw it at the mirror. The glass shattered, spider-webbing from the deep crack Adam had made. A few seconds later he collapsed across the table, his head buried in his arms. He was used to always keeping close tabs on his emotions. He certainly never let them be shown so openly. But now he was powerless, unable to control them.

In a voice weakened and softened by sadness and anguish, yet still heartbreakingly beautiful, he began to sing,

Hey, tears all fall the same

We all feel the rain

We can’t change.

 

Night had fallen and Kris still hadn’t returned. The rising moon found Adam curled up on the ground outside the house, his back leaning against the outside wall. He was shivering in the cold but wouldn’t allow himself to get a blanket from the house. Kris didn’t have any blankets, wherever he was out there.

Adam’s face was still clean and free of makeup and his hair hung loose. He’d changed into different clothes, a casual, loose-fitting, dark blue tunic he usually used for bedclothes, and he’d exchanged the pants for a much loser pair.

With each minute that passed, he felt more morose. He’d driven Kris away. And not only tonight. Kris had made it very clear that he’d been feeling spurned by Adam for some time now. Adam had failed to notice any of it. The mindless habits that had become part of his life since his time in his father’s house were so deeply ingrained by now, he’d never given a thought to how they would make Kris feel. With no more customers to please, the makeup was nothing but a wall between them, the sultry clothes a slap in the face when Adam refused to be intimate with Kris.

But couldn’t Kris see how Adam’s refusal had been in attempt to protect Kris and the purity of their relationship? Adam didn’t want it ruined, tainted by sex like everything else in his life had been. Like Adam himself had been. He wasn’t sure he knew himself in these clothes, and it panicked him to think of his makeup strewn across the bedroom floor, the pots broken and brushes snapped. Take away the dirty occupation that had engulfed his whole life, and Adam wasn’t sure there was anything left of himself anymore.

Adam needed Kris to come back. Needed to be able to see him and hold him. He needed to know Kris was safe, and that he knew how terribly sorry Adam was for everything. But even if Kris did come back, Adam didn’t know how to fix what it seemed he had irreparably broken.

The moon and stars advanced across the sky. Adam was half-frozen in the night air by the time Kris’ horse came trotting back. Adam had been dozing off, but shot up and jumped to his feet when he saw the figure on horseback. Even from so far in the distance, Adam could see how Kris was shivering. Adam rushed inside, emerging again a moment later with a blanket in his arms.

He hurried to Kris, meeting him as soon as he dismounted his horse. Kris tied and fastened the horse’s reigns before turning towards Adam. Neither of them said anything as Adam immediately wrapped the blanket around Kris. The smaller man still shivered, and Adam stepped closer to rub his hands along Kris’ arms, trying to warm him. They looked right into each other’s eyes, but the silence between them was somehow soft and uncharged.

“I was worried,” Adam finally murmured, “I made some stew for you. It’s still hot, although I can’t guarantee how good my cooking will taste.” Kris showed just the tiniest of smiles before letting Adam lead him inside with an arm around Kris.

Kris let out a sigh of relief when he stepped inside, where it was warm from the lamps Adam had lit. Kris moved to sit at the table, curling up and clutching the blanket around himself while Adam spooned out a bowl of stew for him. Kris thanked him softly when Adam gave him the bowl. Adam just sat silently beside him until Kris was finished.

“Are you ready to go to bed?” Adam asked softly. He was so tired, but there was no way he could go to sleep if he was alone in the bed. Kris gave a tired nod. He took the hand Adam extended to him before he got up from the table with the blanket still wrapped around him. Kris’ hand suddenly tightened around Adam’s, keeping the other man still for a moment. Adam turned to look at Kris.

Kris gave him a small, heartfelt smile. “You look beautiful.”

Kris’ eyes swept purposely over Adam’s plain clothes and uncovered face. Adam knew what Kris meant, but he wouldn’t tell Kris how hard of a time he had believing it.

“Come on,” was Adam’s only response as he led Kris towards the bedroom with a tug on his hand.

Kris undid the ties of his shirt and let it fall to the floor with a careless shrug of his shoulders. He noticed the broken mirror and the makeup strewn and shattered across the floor, and he looked over to Adam for explanation. Adam was pointedly avoiding looking towards the vanity table, so Kris said nothing.

Kris slipped into the bed without bothering to change his pants. He was so exhausted. He sighed happily as he settled under the blankets, glad to be where it was familiar and warm again. Adam got right into bed beside him, seeing as he was already in nightclothes himself. He curled around Kris, wrapping him in his arms and holding him close. Kris tilted his head in towards the other man.

“Where did you go?” Adam asked softly.

“I just rode, for a long time. Finally, I just sat and watched the stars for a while before turning back.”

Adam threaded his fingers through Kris’ hair, stroking it back tenderly.

A while later, Adam shifted. He tugged Kris in more tightly and pressed his head down against the younger man’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Adam said. Kris took it to mean for Kris leaving, but a few long seconds later, Adam went on.

His breath was shaky and his voice wavered, but Adam spoke softly, “I’m sorry, Kris. I never meant to make you feel like you were second to anything. You’re my everything, my life, Kris. I’m sorry I don’t know how to show it…..I’m sorry I don’t know how to be the kind of lover you want.”

Kris felt the words. He understood Adam’s guilt and helplessness. But Kris didn’t know what to do any more than Adam did.

Kris wanted to be close to Adam. He wanted to close the awful distance that had grown between them, even if only for the moment. He rolled over towards Adam and curled closer in his arms. Adam’s arms folded him in, and Kris slid an arm up around Adam’s shoulders in return. He sighed in content as his fingers twirled in Adam’s soft hair.

There weren’t any fast solutions or quick fixes, no matter how much either of them wished. Kris felt some relief that at least Adam seemed to understand now. His makeup-free face was just as reassuring and comforting to Kris as his apology. But for now, all there was for them to do was sleep.

 

Hours later, Kris woke to the sound of screaming. Adam was thrashing wildly in the bed beside him and he was shouting, crying out as if in pain. Through his alarm, Kris quickly realized that Adam was still asleep, trapped in some terrible nightmare.

“Adam!” Kris reached over and shook him, trying to rouse him. It took a lot before Adam’s eyes finally flew open. He jumped up into a sitting position, breathing hard. Then his head fell down into the cradle of his arms, and he started shaking.

“Adam?” Kris questioned softly, reaching out to place a tentative, comforting hand on Adam’s shoulder. That was when Kris realized with a start that Adam was crying. “Adam…” When Adam still didn’t show any response, Kris started gently pulling him in to hold him. He guided Adam’s head down against his chest and held him there.

“What is it?” Kris asked gently, his mouth pressed into Adam’s hair, “What was the dream?”

It wasn’t until then that Adam suddenly seemed to remember that he had Kris there to support him, to help him. He slid his arms around Kris’ waist. For a while, he just kept his face hidden against Kris’ chest, trying to school the tears rather than answer Kris’ question. He wasn’t sure he’d have the strength to put it into words. He couldn’t stop trembling though, and he felt Kris’ hands moving soothingly across his back.

After a long time, Adam finally took a deep breath. He knew Kris deserved to know.

“M-my single worst memory from my father. …I was reliving it.”

Kris moved a hand up to Adam’s hair, stroking his fingers through the strands gently.

“Do you want to talk about it? Maybe that would help.”

Adam took a deep, shuddering breath. Maybe Kris was right. Adam had never spoken about the experience since it happened. It was so long ago, yet he knew he’d never forget. Adam clutched Kris closer.

“It…it was shortly after my father forced me into working for him. It was after the second time. By now, I knew what to expect when he came to take me from my room. I knew I couldn’t take it anymore. I was only thirteen… I-I couldn’t bear it…” Kris gripped him more tightly, and Adam sobbed once against Kris’ shoulder. After a few seconds, Adam managed to go on.

“I hid myself away in the house, determined not to let him find me and sell me for another night. I stayed in my hiding place all day. When my father came looking, he tore the whole house apart in search of me. It took him a long time, but he finally found me behind the cupboard where I’d hidden, in an old storage room nobody used anymore. When he pulled me out, I screamed and fought him. I wouldn’t go. I hit him, I bit his hand when he tried to grab me, I told him over and over that he couldn’t make me do it again. He grabbed me and picked me up roughly, carried me out of the room despite how I struggled…”

Kris could feel Adam’s body tensing, shaking more as the memory went on. Kris almost didn’t want to hear about these horrific things that had happened to the man he loved. He wasn’t sure he could stand it, but he knew he had to for Adam’s sake.

“He wanted to make sure I knew I couldn’t defy him. He dragged me into the bedroom where he’d been forcing me to work. He locked me in. When he came back a few minutes later, he…he had rope in his hand. And one by one, he tied my hands to ankles to the bedposts, and left me there like that. Hours later,…he returned with two men. He told them they could have me for the whole night, and do whatever they wanted. Usually my father at least set rules but…not that night. And then he left, and they raped me.”

Kris held Adam as tightly as he dared without crushing him while Adam shook and whimpered and cried as the memory haunted him. Kris didn’t know what to do. There was nothing that erased memories like that, nothing that could undo the way they would follow a person forever.

Kris just whispered, “I’m sorry, Adam. …I’m so sorry,” and held him closer still.

Kris felt flashbacks to when he’d sat beside that bed in the Pharaoh’s chamber, watching Adam cough and gasp from the horrible illness, and knew that it was killing him. Kris had been so horribly helpless to Adam’s suffering, and he felt the same now.

Kris did his best to comfort Adam, murmuring to him gently, “You’re safe now, and that life is behind you. You’ll never go through anything like that again. I won’t let anyone hurt you ever again. You’re safe, Adam, and I love you oh so much…”

After lots of Kris’ soft assurances and endearments, Adam’s hiccupped breathing finally evened out into sleep. Kris kept him close, holding him protectively as if he could keep Adam safe from any other nightmares.

Kris frowned as he stroked Adam’s hair and guilt overtook him. Adam had more than enough justification for shying away from any form of sexual contact. It had given him his most traumatic experiences. Kris suddenly regretted all the time he’d spend trying to convince Adam to attempt that kind of intimacy with him. Since he’d met Adam and quickly fallen for him, all Kris had wanted to do was to be there for him, to let him know he was cared for and loved. Kris felt ashamed that his personal desires had gotten in the way of that. Kris knew that he felt physical attraction towards Adam for reasons pure and heartfelt, much differently from anyone else in Adam’s past. But that didn’t change the fact that sex was sex, and it hurt Adam no matter the form it was in.

Kris curled up against Adam’s side and nestled his head in against Adam’s shoulder. He was going to keep Adam happy, no matter what.

 

The next day, Adam did his best to pretend the nightmare hadn’t happened. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk to Kris about it or that he was ashamed for telling Kris, but it was just too painful to give any more attention to. Kris was careful around him, wanting to be comforting and loving without reminding Adam too much of it.

But even though Kris would rather have been thinking about anything else, Adam’s horrific story kept repeating in his mind. Over and over, and Kris couldn’t stop thinking about it. And then a sudden burst of enlightenment came to him and for the first time, he felt that he really, fully understood the things about Adam that he hadn’t been able to before – that even Adam didn’t understand about himself.

“Adam.” Kris had quickly made his way back the bedroom. Adam was sitting there brushing his hair. His face was makeup-free again and his clothes were more on the conservative side, but none of that mattered to Kris at that moment. Kris hovered in the doorway for a moment, not knowing quite how to say all the things that were flying through his mind. He cleared his throat and moved to sit on the bed.

“What is it, Kris?” Adam asked, looking a bit anxious as he came over to sit down beside the other man.

“I know this isn’t the easiest thing for you to talk about, but…I haven’t been able to help thinking about what you told me last night.” Kris took on the softest, gentlest tone of voice he could, but Adam still flinched and his face still fell in pain at the mention of it. Kris reached out to take his hand as he hurried to continue, “But it’s…made me think about things a little differently and I think I might know why you’re kind of…caught up in the life your father forced on you. Why it was hard for you to stop. Why you still turn to the clothes and makeup.”

Kris looked down to Adam’s hand, focused on stroking his fingers across the back of Adam’s hand rather than the nervous expectancy he could feel coming from Adam. Kris took a deep breath, and did his best to explain what had been going through his head.

“Needless to say, you hated every bit of what your father did, and you hated it every time you had to do the same thing later in your life. The…prostitution, I mean. No one enjoys that. It got you hurt sometimes, and it wasn’t always worth it. I could tell you dreaded when customers would arrive. But when your father forced you into it, it was more than just a job to do for money. It was…everything you grew up with. He turned it into your lifestyle. And after he did such a horrible thing to you when you tried to stand up to him, I doubt you tried defying him again any time soon. If you did what he said, you were safe. If you let him dress and primp you, and you were charming and sultry to the men who bought you, then your father would stay appeased. And you…you had to spend years like that. You had no options but to do what he wanted. And still, after you escaped with Michael, you had to use the same tricks to support yourself. Your father wasn’t there anymore, but all of the things he ingrained into you couldn’t just disappear… And not only that, didn’t he also…try to tell you the prostitution was all you were good for?”

Adam’s eyes were downcast as he answered in a sullen, dead voice, “He’d tell me I was lucky I had such a pretty face, because I’d be worthless otherwise. Told me I should thank the gods for giving me such a tight hole and a mouth made for cock,” Adam’s voice turned utterly hate-filled at the end, and Kris had always hated Adam’s father, but he couldn’t possibly despise anyone as much as he did that man.

Kris touched a hand to Adam’s cheek, coercing Adam to look at him again as he continued, “The sex you were forced into was always awful. But hearing your father spouting garbage like that, and knowing obedience kept you out of trouble, the lifestyle in your father’s house eventually brought you comfort, and safety with it. And that got so deep-rooted in you that…you never let it go. You couldn’t really say why, but something kept you drawn into the persona you’d taken on. That’s why, even after you’re done with the job, you…you’re still confined in the lifestyle. The part of you that thinks it means safety, acceptance…won’t let it go”

Kris took a deep breath when all of his thoughts were finally out. He searched Adam’s face anxiously, trying to gauge what Adam thought of Kris’ explanation. Adam looked away from him, his expression unreadable. Silence stretched on between them, and Kris grew more and more restless.

“Adam?” he asked meekly.

Adam suddenly rose from the bed. He moved slowly to stand in front of the mirror, his hands resting on the back of the chair that went with the vanity table. Kris noticed his hands begin to shake. Adam’s head dropped down from its usual proud posture to instead hang between his shoulders, his long hair obscuring his face. He made some kind of weak, inarticulate noise of grief.

Before Kris could do anything, Adam was whispering with strength and hatred and fury, “I hate him. More than anything…I hate him.” Then Adam was hefting the chair high into the air and throwing it across the vanity table. It smashed into the glass, breaking the mirror further. A reflection was indistinguishable from it now.

Kris sprang to his feet, throwing himself at Adam and wrapping his arms tightly around him in attempt to calm him. Adam’s arms came around him in return, but he was shaking. But only a few seconds later, the shaking gave way to a complete loss of Adam’s strength, and then he was leaning on Kris, clinging to him.

“IhatehimIhatehimIhatehimIhatehimsomuch,” Adam was whimpering, wavering on the edge of tears. “My whole life…he ruined everything.”

“Not everything, Adam, not everything. He could never touch this, never touch us. No one can. I promise you that.”

 

After that, Adam seemed to become withdrawn. Not only from Kris, but from the whole world. He spent a lot of time outside, just sitting in the sand and watching the sky.

The next day, Kris took the liberty of cleaning up their bedroom. He carried out the mirror, which was broken beyond repair from the times Adam had thrown things at it. Kris swept up all of the broken bits of makeup jars and tubs from the floor, and he placed all the cracked containers into a box to throw out. There were still some cosmetics left in tact on the vanity table. Kris was sorely tempted to toss all of them into the box as well, but knew he couldn’t.

When Adam came into the bedroom that night and saw how Kris had tidied up everything, he just turned to Kris with a bit of a smile and thanked him.

“Sorry I didn’t clean up my mess on my own,” he added.

Kris had shaken his head and responded, “Don’t be. I’m good at cleaning.” Then they’d gotten into bed together and fallen asleep with their limbs tangled.

 

The next day, Kris kept himself busy cleaning the house while Adam disappeared outside. Kris knew Adam needed some space after the talk they’d had the other day, but he was doing his best not to think of it as Adam avoiding him.

It was near nightfall and Kris was working in the kitchen dusting, cleaning the table and countertop, when Adam returned. Kris looked up and saw that he was carrying wood into the sitting room to build a fire in the fireplace to ward off the chill of nighttime. By the time Kris finished everything in the kitchen, the fire was going and the house was slowly filling with warmth. Kris looked into the room and saw Adam sitting on the floor before the fireplace. Kris came in to sit next to him.

They sat in silence for a while until Kris finally conceded, “I wish you’d talk to me.”

Adam sighed – not in the way like he wished Kris hadn’t said anything, but more like he knew Kris had a right to say it. After a few long moments of silence, Adam tipped sideways, laying his head in Kris’ lap.

“It’s just…everything is wrong,” Adam said softly with a sigh.

He closed his eyes when Kris’ fingers sunk into his hair. Kris slowly drew his fingers through Adam’s dark hair, and thought about how often it seemed he’d been doing that lately. But it brought comfort to Adam. Kris could feel the larger man’s body slowly relaxing, his eyes slipping closed and a tiny, contented sigh escaping him as Kris stroked his hair back.

“Everything?” Kris repeated, his voice with that weak edge that implied a question.

“Not only did he turn my whole life up side down…making me rely on the things I should hate and want to leave as far behind me as possible…but now he’s tainted this too.”

“What do you mean, Adam?”

Adam was silent for a few seconds. Kris could see his blue eyes were open again, gazing into the fire.

“Almost every day of my whole life I spent philandering. Most of it, as pitiful as it is, by my own doing, my own will. I hated every day of it but...it went on. Now…here I am, starting my life with the person I love more than anything…and I can’t even make love with him-..”

“Stop it, Adam. That doesn’t matter anymore.”

“Of course it matters!” Adam exclaimed suddenly, sitting up in a jerky motion from Kris’ lap. “Don’t try to lie to me and say it doesn’t. I know it hurts you, that I always said no. And you have no idea how much I wish I could…” his voice trailed off, like he didn’t know how to say it. His eyes traveled back and forth a few times over Kris’ body. Kris didn’t know what to do.

“Why are you acting like this?” Kris finally asks, barely loud enough to be heard.

“Like what?”

“This….like you want me. I thought you never thought about me that way. You were so upset when you found out I did.”

Adam turned away from Kris slightly, facing the fire again and drawing his knees up to his chest.

“I don’t know. All of a sudden, I don’t know anything about myself anymore. What you said the other day, it made sense. Too much sense. I feel like the earth that’s been solid for a long time under me suddenly shifted and gave out.” His head fell down into the cradle of his arms then, and Kris hated it when he did that.

“Stop.”

Kris reached out for Adam’s hands, pulling them away from his head and back down to his sides. Kris pulled Adam’s hands between them and kept a gentle hold of them. Kris waited until Adam finally looked at him to speak. “You can’t look back into the past for who you are. You can’t let anyone else dictate that for you. Not your father, not any of those customers, not even me. If you feel like you see things clearer now,…take this opportunity. The smoke’s cleared. You have this chance to find the sky on your own. You have to make yourself your own person, the person you want to be. No more hiding. You can find yourself, and be nothing but that.”

Adam just stared at Kris for a long time. Kris’ gaze fell down towards their linked hands. He couldn’t look into Adam’s face any more; the other man was looking at him so intensely.

Then Adam was suddenly lunging at Kris, cupping his face between his hands and kissing him in a full, passionate, mouth-claiming kiss. Kris gasped before his hands found Adam’s shoulders and his mouth scrambled to meet the beautiful, perfect power of Adam’s. It went on for a few incredible seconds before they parted, both breathing quickly. A second later, Adam pulled Kris in against his chest, folding him in as closely and tightly as he possibly could and burying his face against the side of Kris’ head.

“There is one thing I’m absolutely sure of and I always will be,” Adam whispered fiercely, his lips right against Kris’ ear, “And that’s that I love you so much I will never be able to find the words.”

Kris melted into Adam’s tight embrace before pulling back just enough so he could look up and see Adam’s face. Kris was smiling, and Adam swore his face absolutely glowed. Adam cupped Kris’ face reverently, stroking his fingertips as gently as he could across Kris’ face. “I will never deserve you and all the unbelievable things you’ve done for me. I’ll never deserve your incredible devotion.” Kris placed the softest of kisses on Adam’s lips to silence him.

“You’re so beautiful,” Kris was saying, “The most beautiful person I have ever known.” And Adam knew he wasn’t wearing even a dab of makeup. He also knew Kris meant so much more than what he was saying. When Kris looked at him…Adam could feel his heart speed up and stutter, because Kris was looking so deeply into him. Adam cupped Kris’ face again, because when Kris called him beautiful, it was like the word had never been used by anyone other than him. From his lips, the word took on a new meaning.

“I love you so much,” Kris murmured and Adam kissed with so much feeling and necessity, he wouldn’t have been able to stop if his life depended on it. Kris’ arms were twining up around Adam’s neck and Adam was holding Kris as close as he possibly could while they kissed and kissed and Adam had never felt anything like what was consuming him in that moment…

They kissed until their lips were too tired to continue. When they went to bed, Adam wouldn’t let Kris out of the circle of his arms. They slept, clothed, with Adam holding Kris tight against him – Kris’ back to his front, and Adam peppered kisses along the back of the other man’s neck until they both fell under.

 

Since they moved into the house, Kris had been making almost all of their needed trips to the markets. Kris had tired of the errand, so Adam went the next day instead. During the ride on horseback, his mind spun. So much had happened recently between him and Kris and he had so much to think about.

Adam worked his way through the stalls and vendors, picking up the cooking ingredients Kris had listed, some other things they needed around the house and a few other trinkets they didn’t necessarily need. Before leaving, Adam worked his way over to the clothing vendors. He moved over to one stall where fine clothing made of silk was being sold.

There was one large man already there looking through the wares, so Adam went over to the other side of the stall. While he fingered the fabric and looked through the different shades of colors, he glanced up at the man standing on the other side. Adam recognized him instantly and when he did, his body instinctually froze for a second before coming back under his control. Adam ducked his head, hoping and praying that the man wouldn’t look over and recognize him.

But not even a minute later, there came, “Adam? Adam Lambert! Who the hell ever thought I’d see you all the way out here!”

Adam winced almost imperceptibly before responding in a strained voice, “Good day, Mosegi. Yes, it’s quite a surprise. But I’m afraid I don’t have much time to hang around…” Adam turned away from the stall, ready to attempt a getaway, but Mosegi was already coming around the stall and Adam knew it wouldn’t be that easy.

Mosegi had been a regular customer, and one of Adam’s least favorites. He was rough and violent. He’d given Michael a good fight the few times Michael had had to kick him out.

“No need to hurry off,” the man said, coming up and placing a big hand on Adam’s shoulder. Adam was about the same height as him, but Mosegi was about twice as large the other way. Mosegi leered as he added, “What? Got customers lined up? If not, I wouldn’t mind taking a last-minute appointment.”

Adam looked away from him with a scowl and gave a rough shrug of his shoulder to push off the other man’s hand.

“Sorry. I’m out of business.”

“How’s that? You may not be as young as you used to be but you’re still plenty pretty.” A sarcastic, mocking tone tinged the man’s words, and Adam was repulsed. When Adam looked at his face, he could see that expression that he’d encountered on far too many men’s faces – that desiring, predatory look like Adam was some kind of choice cut meat. And the man went on, “And besides,…it’s really only the ass that people care about.”

“Allow me to rephrase,” Adam snapped hotly. “I’m retired. I got sick of degrading myself for filth like you. You’re not half the man I deserve.”

Adam turned on his heel and went to walk away.

He heard Mosegi’s outraged voice come from behind him, “And just what do whores deserve?! They take what they can get and be grateful.”

Adam had to turn and spit back angrily, “Oh, don’t misunderstand, Mosegi. I’m plenty grateful. Thanks to fools like you, I’ll be living with riches and comfort until the day I die. While you’ll be struggling to find someone to spend time with who you won’t have to pay.”

With that, Adam stalked off, thoroughly enjoying the shock and rage and humiliation playing across Mosegi’s face.

 

During the ride back home, Adam couldn’t seem to banish Mosegi and the things he’d said from his mind. But thinking of that thankfully led back to thoughts of Kris. Adam remembered the way Mosegi spit out the word ‘pretty’ at him with contempt, and then Adam’s mind was reversing to how Kris had called him ‘beautiful’ the previous night, with all that pure honesty and love and cherishment so clear in his eyes. The two men had said similar things, but the meanings couldn’t have been more different. Then Adam was thinking about the way Mosegi and all those men used to treat him, and the tender, gentle embraces and kisses Kris gave him. Suddenly, Adam couldn’t be happier that he’d given up that old life. He didn’t need whatever comfort or feeling of safety he used to get from it. He had Kris now. He had their life together, and even if they fought or argued like they had been lately, Adam knew without question that Kris would go on loving him regardless. Years ago, Adam would never have believed that he could come to have such a deep and implicit trust in another person. But then again, years ago, Adam would never have even believed someone like Kris really existed in the world.

Kris had never lied to him, never tried to coerce anything from Adam for Kris’ own benefit alone. When they had been at odds over their lack of a physical relationship, Kris had been so sure that theirs would be different from Adam’s previous experiences. What if…Kris was right? Adam knew Kris would be gentle, tender. He would never do anything to hurt Adam. After all Kris had done and sacrificed for him, Adam knew Kris would only want good things for him. And when Adam really thought about it instead of giving into his initial reaction of shrinking back from thoughts about sex, he could remember the few times he’d felt pleasure. With Brad and a few customers few and far between, and of course, with the Pharaoh. Adam had never dreaded or waited impatiently for the end to his and the Pharaoh’s relations. Adam could remember faintly wishing it would go on longer. The sex with him had been good because the Pharaoh was young and fit and filled with sexual prowess. And it had been good, Adam had to admit. Incredible, even. Adam’s brief affair with the Pharaoh had definitely demonstrated to him the enjoyable, pleasurable side to sex.

Kris was charming and beautiful. He was the single most alluring person Adam had ever met. Adam had felt an attraction to him since meeting him, but the feeling had only intensified, deepened, and evolved into something more meaningful and heartfelt as he grew to know Kris better and to fall in love with him. If he and Kris were to attempt a physical joining, maybe it could be just as gratifying as with the Pharaoh, albeit for a far different reason…because their relations would have something new woven into them, something Adam had never experienced before in sex.

Love.

 

Adam was uncharacteristically quiet when he got home. Kris took his bags from him and gave him a brief kiss, but didn’t bother him with questions about his silence. Kris took the bags into the kitchen to put the groceries away. Adam walked through the kitchen and straight into the bedroom. When he didn’t emerge for a while, Kris went into the bedroom after him.

Adam was sitting in his usual spot, in front of what used to be the vanity table. Now, the mirror was gone, the table ruined with deep scratches, and almost all of the makeup broken and cleared away.

“Adam?” Kris asked softly from the doorway. Adam turned with a small smile for him. “Sorry…I got rid of the mirror. You couldn’t really see anything in it anymore,” Kris said.

“No, it’s alright. I think I like this better, actually. Not being able to see myself.”

That puzzled Kris. As long as Kris had known him, Adam had spent hours almost every day sitting in front of a mirror, doing this or that to his appearance.

“Hm?” Kris hummed, and Adam’s smile twisted a little when he caught onto Kris’ confusion at what he had said.

“I don’t find myself attractive, Kris. I never have.”

“That’s silly, of course you’re…” Kris went to say, but Adam continued before Kris got the chance.

“I hate my body. In fact, when I look into a mirror…I don’t even really see anything below my neck.”

Now Kris was really lost.

“What do you mean?” Kris asked, brow furrowed.

Adam sighed, standing up from the chair slowly.

“I would powder my face, try to make it look as nice as possible. My face…it’s all I feel I can really call my own anymore. The rest of my body…it’s been used and owned and dirtied so many times by so many people. …Sometimes I wish I could discard it.”

Kris was still standing in the doorway, and when Adam looked at him, he saw the pain in Kris’ eyes, welling up from hearing Adam talk about himself like that.

Kris opened his mouth, but Adam beat him to it, “I know you would say you think I’m beautiful even knowing my past. But…you haven’t quite seen all of me yet, or the extend of what that past has done to me.”

Adam turned around so his back was towards Kris and he loosened the ties of his robes just enough so he could slide them down from his shoulders. He tugged them down just until his bare back was exposed to Kris. The second the fabric fell and revealed Adam’s skin, Kris gave a choked, horrified gasp. His hands flew to cover his mouth in his shock.

The scars. The endless, uncountable, horrid scars cut across Adam’s back in every possible direction, twisting and cutting in through each other in a dark red tangle that stretched the width of his whole back.

“H-how did you…what are they from?” Kris gasped, the sight of them making it hard for him to speak or think or do much of anything. His mind was just stuck on some monster has done this to him…

“It happened in the palace,” Adam explained, voice calm and impassive. “Lady Merrick was toying with me. I didn’t let her. I fought back, and she had the slavekeeper do this.”

The wounds from the whip had healed long ago, but the lashes had cut so deeply into his skin that the scar tissue had formed around the shape of them. He knew they were a brand now, a permanent part of him.

He wondered what Kris was thinking at the sight of them.

At first, Kris could think of nothing but the unbelievable pain that must have come with all those marks. Kris didn’t know how anyone could have survived it. Kris wanted to give in to tears, when he imagined the whip snapping down and striking Adam again and again and again…

But looking at the messy scars now, he saw them as a tribute to the fact that Adam was still alive. That somehow, he’d had the strength to pull through when his life had taken the worst possible turns.

Kris finally managed to speak, voice cracking a little, “You thought these would change my opinion of you?”

“Not necessarily,” Adam replied as he drew his robes back up onto his shoulders and turned around to face Kris again. “I just wanted you to see them.”

Kris didn’t say anything at first. He just walked forward and folded himself into Adam’s arms. Adam took him in, wrapping him up and holding him close.

“It just…hurts,” Kris murmured, his voice muffled where his mouth was pressed against Adam’s shoulder. “…knowing you went through all that suffering…all that pain and there was nothing I could do about it. There’s nothing I can do now to erase those things.”

“Hey,” Adam said gently, pulling Kris back the slightest bit so he could look into his eyes. “Being with you right now?” Adam traced a finger along the side of Kris’ face, “It heals everything.”

Kris pushed up to kiss him, and Adam drew Kris in close again as he returned the kiss with equal passion. When they separated, Adam lifted a hand to Kris’ face again, stroking his skin lightly.

There was something now, some kind of connection that had bubbled up between them. They both felt it; A physical draw that stemmed straight from the heart.

Adam swallowed past the feeling and spoke softly, “I don’t think either of us really understood. I didn’t understand why you wanted to try and you didn’t understand why I didn’t. But I think I might be starting to feel the same things you have. Or rather…I have the whole time but I couldn’t recognize it.”

Kris had tried to explain his physical feelings to Adam so many times in the past, but this moment was different. They weren’t angry at each other. Ever since that night Kris had rode off and left Adam alone in the house, things had changed. After the horrible taste of being split from each other, they’d been more receptive and willing to listen to one another and now was the best, warmest moment yet.

“It’s not like I wanted you right from the day I met you. I fell in love with you first. I loved who you are, everything about you, and it made me want to be close to you like that. I wanted the chance to tell you what you mean to me in more than just words…”

Adam silenced him gently, laying his thumb across Kris’ lips. “I was wrong for faulting you that,” Adam admitted. “It was just such a shock for me to hear it. It was probably a bit unrealistic of me to think that you would never have any feelings like that, because it’s true that everyone does. Even me. You were right, I have enjoyed sex before. It’s just so easy for me to forget that in the middle of all the bad memories. But I…I’ve been trying to think differently and I think I understand what you were saying. I think I feel the same. Just…let me try to tell you what makes me have reservations.” Kris nodded, his expression open and honest. He reached up to take Adam’s hand and hold it between his own, against his chest. “Kris, you’re just so…pure and innocent. I mean, you’re a virgin, I was your first kiss and everything. I just…I look at you and I see this bright, perfect person in you and I would never want to do anything to sully that. I don’t know if it seems right for someone with a history like mine, someone as…dirty as me, to take that from you.”

“But you wouldn’t be taking anything from me. You’d be giving me something, something incredible…that no one else has before. And it could never be anyone other than you, Adam. If you won’t lay with me, then I guess I’ll die a virgin.” They both chuckled briefly. Kris reached up to touch Adam’s face, and his serious tone returned, “And please don’t ever call yourself dirty again. If you’ve been able to see through my eyes about the feelings I have for you, then try to do the same for this. You’re beautiful. You’re wonderful, perfect, kind, loving…you have a light in my eyes, too. Nothing in your past has changed that. Not these that you used to wear…” Kris gripped his fingers in the cloth of Adam’s robes, “Not these…” Kris’ hand slid back to rest lightly over where Adam’s scars were. “Nothing. You’re radiant and you always will be.”

By this point, Adam’s breathing was uneven. It came in shuddering gasps and Kris thought he might be close to crying. Kris reached up to slide his arms around Adam’s neck and tug him down to hug him. Adam’s arms came around him in return, tentatively at first but then gripping Kris tightly. Adam straightened up again suddenly, looking down intensely into Kris’ face as his hands pushed Kris’ hair back away from his face, stroking it back repeatedly. His eyes were wet, but Kris thought he looked too happy to cry.

“I’ll try with you, Kris,” Adam whispered passionately, “The way you see me, the way you talk about me…it’s what I’ve wanted my whole life. And I want you and I’d do anything for you.”

“But it’s not just for me, right? You want to, too?” Kris asked, eyes wide and hopeful.

Adam nodded, murmuring, “Yes. I promise, yes,” and his hands already reaching up to frame Kris’ face as he leaned in to kiss him deeply. It felt like the kiss held something more, some kind of surge of intensity that rolled through each of them. Once their mouths separated, Adam kept his hands cupped around Kris’ face, and Kris’ hands were still clutching the front of Adam’s robes. They just looked into each other’s eyes for a few heavy, pregnant seconds. Both almost unable to believe that this was really about to happen.

“Me first,” Kris whispered as he reached for the bottom of his own shirt, his voice tinged with both excitement and shyness. His cheeks reddened the slightest bit, and Adam lightly kissed the blush.

Kris drew his shirt over his head and off. He had only the smallest little marks marring his skin where the punishments he’d received from his time as a servant hadn’t healed like new. But Adam didn’t notice them. Kris’ body was slight, but his chest and arms rippled with the hint of muscles and he was so absolutely stunning that Adam could not look anywhere but at him, and feel utter disbelief that this incredible man really loved him.

Kris was pushing down the waistband of his pants and rambling shyly, “We don’t have to go all the way…not right away. We can just try some things and see...” He was cut off abruptly by the frantic press of Adam’s mouth. Kris’ eyes immediately fell shut and he struggled kicking his pants off the rest of the way as he reached for Adam and kissed him back hungrily. Adam’s mouth started moving down Kris’ jaw, sucking and leaving a trail of wet kisses on Kris’ skin. He traveled downwards until he reached the side of Kris’ neck, where it met his shoulder. He attached his mouth to the juncture of soft skin and Kris moaned as Adam sucked and teased with his teeth.

Adam hands reached down to find the ties of his own robes. Kris was naked by now, so he knew he should get to work on his own garments despite how self-conscious he felt about showing all of himself to Kris. He’d never thought twice when it came to customers, but this was Kris. Adam cared what he thought. And Kris and his body were so incredibly perfect and gorgeous and Adam felt his own was so flawed…

Without letting himself think anymore on the matter, Adam’s robes dropped to the floor. Kris immediately pulled their bodies together, his arms around Adam’s neck. Kris kissed him again, and every worry and thought flew from Adam’s mind. His arms curled around Kris and drew him in more tightly against him. Kris felt their midsections push together and Kris gave a surprised breath against Adam’s mouth.

“W-wait,” Kris gasped, his hands falling to Adam’s shoulders, “I won’t be able to last long since it’s all so new to me. I want to tend to you first.”

Adam was about to ask Kris what he meant when Kris kept him quiet with a soft kiss. Kris’ hands slid around Adam until they found the web of scars on his back. Adam shuddered slightly at the touch, and Kris drew back a little. His eyes searched Adam’s face until Adam looked back at him and their eyes met.

“Would you…lie on the bed? On your front?” Kris asked in nothing more than a whisper. After a few seconds, Adam nodded. He placed the softest of kisses on Kris’ lips before turning to do as Kris had asked.

Kris watched him move, sliding onto the bed and then stretching out on his front, and Kris couldn’t believe this stunningly beautiful man was his. Adam tossed his head, throwing his long hair back away from his eyes so he could watch Kris.

Kris went over and crawled onto the bed slowly. He was determined to do this right. His intention was, before anything else, to show Adam through physical intimacy how perfect and whole he was and how much Kris cared for him.

Kris traced his fingers as lightly as he could across the mess of scars. They ran deep and the raised, scarred flesh was a stark, bright color that stood out from his skin. Kris traced the overlapping, crisscrossing lines of them until he reached the one that extended upwards the farthest, towards Adam’s neck. He traced back and forth across that single scar a few times while Adam laid still beneath Kris’ hand. Adam’s fingers were twisted in the pillow. When Kris lifted his hand away, he leaned over and placed a careful, gentle kiss at the top edge of the scar. A warm shiver ran through the whole length of Adam’s body. Kris laid a few brief, feather-light kisses down the length of the single scar.

He began feeling his way across the scars with his fingers, as if tracing lines on a map. His lips followed where his fingertips touched. He tried to imagine that the soft press of his lips could take away the pain Adam had endured, and Kris made sure to kiss gently across every single one.

Adam laid still, his breathing quickening. The recurring press of Kris’ lips felt impossibly tender and intimate, and as Kris slowly worked his way across the scars, Adam began to tremble the slightest bit. He’d never felt anything like this before. By the time Kris was reaching the bottom scars, his hands were soothingly sliding up and down Adam’s sides.

There was one scar left. It laid in a jagged line right across where the swell of Adam’s buttocks began. Kris leaned in one last time and brushed a kiss to either end of the scar. One of his hands stroked Adam’s hip as he sat up again.

“Adam?” Kris questioned softly.

Adam turned his head, and Kris could see his eyes were closed. “Hm?” he hummed in response, his voice sounding strained after Kris’ ministrations.

“Turn over?”

Adam nodded mutely as he rolled onto his back. Kris did his best not to blush when this side of Adam’s body was put on display. But of course, Kris couldn’t help his eyes from straying down to Adam’s manhood. His was much bigger than Kris’. Kris knew Adam could see where he was looking, and Kris could see Adam’s partially-erect cock growing more so under his gaze. Kris pulled his gaze back towards Adam’s face, knowing there were other things to do first.

Adam whispered the other man’s name then, and reached for Kris’ hand to pull him closer for a kiss. Kris came up, lying across Adam’s chest to kiss him slowly, deeply.

“I love you so much,” Adam murmured reverently, stroking Kris’ hair back from his face gently. Adam had been totally relaxed and all semblance of his personal walls removed after the tender kisses Kris had left across his scars. Kris wordlessly returned the sentiment by lifting Adam’s hand in his own to kiss it. Then after kissing Adam’s lips again, he did the same that Adam had done to him a few minutes before, sliding his lips slowly down Adam’s neck. Adam dipped his head to the other side with a soft sigh, his hands reaching for Kris.

Kris moved above him, settling down straddling Adam’s waist. He gripped Adam’s arms and pushed them up so they were over his head. Adam went willingly, his body pliant and relaxed beneath Kris. Kris smiled and pressed a kiss to his chin.

Pulling back to sit up, his legs on either side of Adam’s waist, Kris moved his hands down along Adam’s body. Then his hands worked their way slowly back up to Adam’s nipples, his fingers brushing over them once and eliciting a soft sound from Adam. Adam’s sound of pleasure fluttered through Kris, and Kris, despite his lack of experience, was focused exactly on what he wanted to do – make Adam feel as good and cherished as he possible could.

Kris leaned down again, fitting his body down across Adam’s as Kris pressed a tender kiss to the other man’s collarbone. Kris began a soft trail of kisses moving downwards. Heat blossomed under Adam’s skin wherever Kris’ mouth touched.

Needing something to ground himself, Adam lowered his arms and his hands curled around the backs of Kris’ thighs. Without really thinking about it, his hands started moving back and forth across Kris’ skin, trying to reach as much as possible.

Kris’ mouth reached Adam’s nipples and he sucked the right one into his mouth. As Kris swirled his tongue and nipped lightly with his teeth, Adam arched up a little with a small moan. He was just as sensitive as anyone would be, thanks to the rarity in the past of people doing anything of this sort to him. Kris brushed his fingers across Adam’s other nipple before switching his mouth over. After lapping over the bud for a while, Kris started kissing his way farther down Adam’s chest. He shifted down Adam’s body a little bit so he could reach his hips and press a few kisses across them. He looked up to Adam’s face and smiled to himself when he saw Adam’s eyes closed and lips parted as labored, pleasured breaths passed between them.

Kris crawled his way back up Adam’s body so he could reach Adam’s mouth. He kissed Adam slowly and deeply. His tongue searched out Adam’s until both of theirs met with hot friction. The kiss tinted with the shades of their soft moans. Adam’s hands slid up Kris’ thighs, gathering Kris in closer. His hands finally moved all the way up to the globes of Kris’ ass and Kris let out another moan when he felt Adam’s hands gripping him there.

When they separated, their gazes locked for only a moment before they dove into another kiss. Even though his heart raced with apprehension at the thought, Kris knew exactly what to do next.

With one last peck to Adam’s lips, Kris quickly moved back down Adam’s body. He settled down between Adam’s legs, his member at eye level. As soon as Adam realized what was on Kris’ mind, he was sitting up and saying, “No, Kris, you don’t have to…”

“Shhh,” Kris hushed him, his hands landing on Adam’s hips and holding him still. “Please, I want to.” He kissed Adam’s hip and rubbed over his skin with his hands until Adam was settling back down in the bed. Kris’ voice took on a bit more shyness now, “I’ll probably be really bad though, seeing as I’ve never done any of this stuff before.”

“You could never do anything badly.”

Kris just laughed a little at Adam’s words and shook his head. His attention refocused on Adam’s cock and suddenly Kris was serious again. He would try his best.

He held the base of the shaft in his hands before taking a few experimental licks at the tip. Once he felt adjusted to the taste, he took just a little bit in between his lips and sucked softly. He heard Adam give a soft but sharp groan from above him. He looked up at Adam’s face, saw his head tipped back in the pillows and his eyes closed, and absolute determination shot through Kris.

He pulled off for a moment to take a deep breath before sliding his mouth down as far as he could. Sucking didn’t work as well when there was so much in his mouth, so Kris started sliding his lips up Adam’s length and then back down to the limit that he could reach. Hearing Adam’s almost continual moans drove him on to move faster. A few seconds later, he felt Adam’s hands in his hair, gripping the strands but not pulling.

Kris’ movements were a bit clumsy, but Adam was lost in nothing but pleasure. Just knowing it was Kris he was sharing this with – Kris, who loved him – made the sensations incredible and his heart spin wildly in his chest.

Kris wanted to continue what he was doing as it was obvious Adam liked it, but Kris’ jaw was growing sore too quickly. He pulled his mouth off and instead he began pumping Adam’s length with his hands. He took just the head back in his mouth, sucking and swirling his tongue against it. Adam almost cried out, his hips bucking a little bit despite how he was clearly trying to control them. Kris felt Adam’s hands cupping the back of his head and Kris slid his mouth down a little lower. He did his best to make his fists come up high enough to reach his mouth, so all of Adam’s length was being stimulated. Kris had no idea whether he was doing this the ‘right way’, he was just doing what felt right and drew the best responses from his lover.

After a few more minutes, Adam gave his hair a tug. Kris could hear him panting by now.

“K-Kris,” Adam gasped, pulling Kris’ hair a little, “I…I’m almost there. You should pull off…” Kris slid his mouth off just to shake his head before resuming. He was determined to do this all the way. Adam began to protest again, but then his words cut off with a loud moan when Kris’ tongue found a sensitive section on the underside of his cock. Adam gasped out his lover’s name before Kris felt the first trickle of warm wetness against his tongue. Then it came more quickly, and he made himself swallow before it could flood his mouth. It only took about three swallows before Adam was falling limp on the bed and Kris was cleaning the last bit of cum from Adam’s cock with his tongue. It tasted unusual, but Kris thought it was alright.

He kissed Adam’s hip before crawling up to curl against Adam’s side. Adam was still catching his breath as he turned his head towards Kris. Kris looked up into Adam’s face and the blinding smile he saw there made his heart leap.

“Kris…” Adam turned over so he could gather Kris in his arms and kiss his forehead. Adam looked down towards Kris’ cock, seeing it was half-hard.

“Let me do the same for you,” Adam offered, but Kris was already shaking his head. The ache from his groin would fade. He shifted his hips away from Adam slightly and laid his head down against Adam’s chest and closed his eyes.

“I just wanted our first experience to be for you. And I don’t want to risk moving too quickly…”

“Are you sure?”

“Completely.” Kris tipped his head upwards so he could give Adam a gentle kiss on the lips. When Kris settled down against Adam’s chest again, the older man’s arms encircled him more tightly and Kris sighed in content.

After a stretch of silence, Kris nervously asked the question that had been on his mind, “So…um, how was it?” He quickly hid his face against Adam’s chest a little. Adam laughed a little and stroked one hand through Kris’ hair.

“You were absolutely wonderful, Kris. The best.”

“You’re just saying that,” Kris mumbled with a blush, his voice muffled by Adam’s chest.

“No, I am most certainly not. I could feel that you were trying so much, so hard. You…just wanted to make me feel as good as you could. And that was incredible.”

“I…I did. That’s what I was thinking.”

“It worked, Kris.”

When Kris lifted his head up a bit from having his face pressed into Adam’s chest, Adam’s arms pulled him in so Kris’ head was cradled against Adam’s shoulder and he had the smaller man wrapped securely in his arms. Kris smiled as he closed his eyes, wrapped up in his warm, loving cocoon. He slid his arms around Adam’s waist. The press of so much skin-on-skin sent a joyful thrill through both of them. It was an entirely new sensation. Even to Adam, who’d never had a real lover before who he could just hold when they were naked in bed together.

Kris’ eyes were closed and he was just reaching the first taste of sleep when he heard Adam’s soft voice saying, “Thank you.” Kris’ eyes blinked open, trying to remember the context of Adam’s words. “Thank you…for talking me into trying. For not giving up and walking away from me when I kept saying no.” Kris suddenly remembered the situation.

Kris tilted his head up to see Adam’s face. He was looking up towards the ceiling, his eyes not exactly focused. Kris straightened his neck up to kiss Adam on the cheek.

When Adam was looking back at him, Kris reached up to touch Adam’s face and he told him gently yet with heartfelt promise, “I would never walk away from you.”

 

Needless to say, things changed between them. Some of their kisses lasted longer, reached deeper. The edge that neither of them had really noticed was there (especially Adam) had been relieved. The next morning, Kris didn’t hesitate to wake Adam with a long kiss before pulling him into the kitchen for his favorite breakfast. When Kris got to work cleaning the dishes afterwards, Adam came up to wrap his arms around Kris from behind. He bent his head down to press a tender kiss in the crook of Kris’ neck and then left his mouth there to murmur, “Thank you,” against his skin. Kris wasn’t exactly sure what it was for, so he just took it as a general, blanket statement for everything. Kris turned in his arms to kiss him, sliding his arms up around Adam’s neck. Adam didn’t withdraw once the kiss started growing deeper. He pulled Kris closer. Sharing this with him felt indescribable, incredible. It was something so essential that Adam somehow hadn’t even realized they’d been missing – the chance to hold Kris this tightly against him and kiss him with all the love he felt, not holding a single thing back.

 

That afternoon found the two outside, tending to their two horses. They gave them both food and water before combing the horses’ manes and brushing their backs.

“You know, Adam…I feel like I need something to keep me busy.”

Adam looked over at Kris and asked him, “What do you mean?”

“I’m not sure that I’m old enough yet for a life this relaxed. I know you said we have plenty of money but…I think I might want a job anyway. I feel better, more useful when I have things to work on.”

“You mean you want to do things other than cooking delicious meals for me?” Adam asked with a fake, wobbly frown. “How will I live without your cooking all the time?”

Kris laughed, shaking his head a little. “Of course I’ll still cook for you, silly. I was just thinking I may want some kind of job on the side to fill some time.”

“Well, whatever you want to do is fine with me. Whatever keeps you happy. As for me, I’m content with a life of relaxation and lethargy, thank you very much.”

“You deserve one, Adam, without a doubt,” Kris’ reply was serious despite the joking tone of Adam’s previous statement.

Adam was just as serious when he added, “So do you, Kris. You’ve certainly been through a lot, too.”

“I suppose that’s true…but I just feel so anxious when I stay in one place for too long, not doing anything. I guess the servant part of me runs deep.” Adam had to look over at Kris again to see that he was joking and not making a bitter comment.

“Like I said, darling, whatever makes you happy. But don’t feel obligated, not to me or anyone else. Don’t feel like you owe your time to anyone.”

Kris nodded as he pulled the brush in his hand across his horse’s back. “I know. Now, all my time is my own to do with as I please.”

 

Later, they made supper together and sat down to eat at either side of the kitchen table. The room was illuminated by a few candles that stood in the middle of the table. The dim lighting didn’t matter, neither of them wanted to look anywhere but at each other anyway. Kris remembered not too long ago when they’d sat here over a tense dinner and Kris had tried to hold Adam’s hand only to have the other man pull away. Kris reached across the table. Almost like he was thinking the same, Adam gripped Kris’ hand tightly right away.

During dinner, Adam couldn’t help the same thoughts he’d been having the entire day – thoughts of the night before. The kisses Kris had left all over his skin. The wet inside of Kris’ mouth. Adam wasn’t quite sure whether it was just his imagination, but the air around him and Kris seemed to hold some kind of charge or pressure. Adam wanted to touch Kris again, kiss him in the incredible new way they had discovered, feel Kris’ bare, silky skin against his own.

Kris would be hard-pressed to find anyone with more experience than Adam. Adam wanted to put that to good use, for once, and make Kris feel so good he wouldn’t be able to think straight. It was clear now to Adam that Kris really did see him differently than Adam saw himself. Where Adam saw something ruined and tainted, Kris saw pureness and beauty. Adam believed him now. Being able to see himself this new way thanks to Kris made Adam feel such a need for him, such a desire to bring Kris pleasure in return, and Adam no longer felt guilt accompanying such thoughts about Kris. It was so freeing and Adam wanted to take every advantage of this new way of thinking. And he knew damn well that Kris wanted him to as well.

“Kris,” Adam spoke softly, once both their plates were empty. He gave Kris’ hand a squeeze. “Can we go to bed?”

It was too early in the evening for there to be anything but one meaning to his words.

Despite everything, a hint of doubt still crept into his voice. But when Kris heard what Adam had asked – of his own volition – a wide smile burst onto his face. Adam looked down to Kris’ hand in his, his thumb rubbing over the back of the younger man’s hand.

“This time let me be the one to show you how very much you mean to me. …Show you the way you look in my eyes.”

Kris suddenly pushed everything covering the table to the side, heedless of the clinking dishes or spilled water. He let go of Adam’s hand so he could bodily lift himself over the table and reach Adam’s mouth to kiss him hungrily. It was all the answer Adam needed.

 

Now it was Kris’ turn to lie bare in the bed, spread out on his back with Adam above him.

“You’ve never had anything like this done to you before, right?” Adam asked from where he was kneeling above Kris. His own tunic was stripped off but he still wore pants.

“Nothing,” Kris affirmed, swallowing a bit anxiously. “Last night was my first experience of the kind.”

Now Adam was smiling down at him reassuredly. A few of his fingers came up to gently stroke Kris’ cheek back and forth. Kris let himself relax, closing his eyes and turning his head into the touch. He tipped his head down to kiss Kris’ forehead and then his lips lightly.

“Don’t worry about anything. I promise I’ll make it incredible. And it’s hardly like we have to go all the way to the main event tonight. We have our whole lives together. We can take our time.”

Kris smiled again, and Adam could see him relaxing beneath him. Kris turned his head to the side to press a kiss to Adam’s fingertips that were still against his cheek.

“I know, Adam. I trust you. I love you.” Kris lifted a hand to Adam’s hair, brushing the long strands back from where they framed Adam’s face and pushing them behind his ear gently.

Adam got that feeling in his chest that Kris sometimes gave him – like his heart was so impossibly filled with joy it might burst. Adam lowered himself down above Kris, his mouth positioned just beside Kris’ ear so Adam could tell him softly, with the intimate brush of his warm breath against the shell of Kris’ ear, “Me too. More than you can imagine.”

That was the moment when Adam truly let all his previous inhibitions go. Kris clearly loved and trusted him so. He really cared for and wanted Adam despite what his past held. That was all that mattered, and Adam was going to make Kris happy by giving him everything he wanted.

Adam pulled back, shifting his weight to his haunches. He decided he’d leave his pants on for the moment. He wanted the focus to remain entirely on Kris.

Adam couldn’t help spending a few seconds just taking Kris in. He’d had a rough life as a servant, first for the merchant caravan he’d told Adam about and later for Lord Dallon. Kris’ years spent in labor had left his naturally small body lined with muscles. It was maybe a little ironic. Kris was such a gentle, easygoing person, yet he had this kind of toughened body beneath his clothes. He was utterly gorgeous and Adam felt what he’d only experienced in earnest a few times in his life – true and powerful desire. What he felt right now was so much stronger than anything before, heightened by the depth of the feelings he already had for Kris. Suddenly, Adam could hardly wait to make love with Kris for the first time.

But for now, they were taking this in stride. One thing at a time, Adam reminded himself. Right now, he was focusing on Kris’ pleasure.

His hands fluttered down Kris’ sides with light touches until they found Kris’ hips. Adam settled down in place between Kris’ thighs, shifting Kris a little and guiding him so his thighs rested over Adam’s shoulders. Kris shuddered pleasantly as Adam kissed the inside of his thigh and his hands smoothed over Kris’ hips and down to his ass. Adam nosed Kris’ inner thigh before slowly trailing his way to Kris’ cock. It was partially erect and Adam assumed it was Kris’ remaining nerves keeping him from full erection. Adam would have to fix that before they could get down to business.

He began placing feather-light kisses along the base of Kris’ cock. Just tiny, barely-there brushes of his lips that made Kris softly gasp from the never-before experienced intimacy of it. Adam continued, circling slowly around the base a few times until the other man’s cock started flushing and curving up towards his stomach. Adam pulled back, a small smile of satisfaction on his face as he wrapped his hand around the base and loosely pumped Kris a few times, feeling how hard he was. Satisfied that Kris was properly prepared, Adam settled down with his weight rested on his elbows and his hands slid under Kris’ ass to hold him in position.

“You can put your hands in my hair if you want to. You can move your hips a bit too, but try not to move around too much.”

Kris shivered when he heard Adam’s voice and looked down again. Adam’s voice had taken on a little bit of the seductive purr Kris had heard directed before towards customers. He looked down to Adam’s face and saw what looked like dirty mischief in his expression, but it was still easy for Kris to see the same warmth and love in Adam’s eyes. He was 100 percent still the same Adam. Still his Adam. But now Kris knew he was totally in Adam’s playing field.

And that was when Adam opened his mouth and swallowed Kris whole in one single, deft movement. Kris’ eyes flew open wide and he cried out at the sudden onslaught of sensation. Only a moment later, Adam’s lips were sliding off. He’d chosen to start out with a bang. Not wanting to keep Kris waiting for even a second, Adam extended his tongue and flicked it across the head of Kris’ cock. Without even touching his lips to Kris, Adam started trailing his tongue along and around Kris’ length. He would call Kris’ penis about average-sized, but Adam already loved the taste and texture of it. Maybe it was just because it belonged to Adam’s favorite person in the world, but Adam already thought this one was better than any other.

Adam tongued the underside, paying attention to find the sensitive vein there. When he did, he worked his tongue against it and the mewling sound Kris produced sent a shiver and a gasp through Adam. He lapped back up towards the tip so he could tease the sensitive slit there with his tongue. He used a few fingers to pump Kris’ sensitive spot on the underside at the same time and Kris bucked up a little, crying out. Kris already felt lost in sensory overload. It was like never having tasted a drop of wine before and suddenly being intoxicated past the point of reason on the best wine in the world.

Adam’s lips had closed around the first few inches of him now and he was sucking while his tongue continued to work the head. Kris arched off the bed a little, gasping. He almost felt like he was drowning in this ocean of pleasure and he needed something to ground himself. His hands searched for Adam until they found his hair and wound tightly into the strands. Adam gave a slight moan, heat flashing through him when he felt Kris’ hands tight in his hair. Adam was already beginning to taste the first sweet drops of Kris’ precome. He didn’t have much more time as, understandably, Kris was so sensitive.

Adam held Kris’ cock steady with one hand at the base so he could work the whole length now. He began sliding his lips rapidly down and back up, keeping even suction as he sunk down a little lower each time. Kris’ hands intermittently tugging at his hair drove him on, his own cock starting to harden between his legs as his lips grew nearer to the base, his lips kissing the hand that held Kris there. Finally, he let go with his hand so he could open his throat and take all of Kris each time he sunk down. By now, Kris was a constant stream of moans and cries and pleas above him, and Adam wanted to make him come just as badly as Kris kept saying he needed to. Adam knew it wouldn’t take much. He could practically feel Kris’ tight body tensing beneath him, straining to reach release. Adam spread his hands to grip Kris’ hips, holding him still as Adam sunk down one last time, taking Kris’ entire length into his mouth. He pressed his tongue against that spot on the underside. And then he swallowed around Kris, and Kris completely came apart, losing control of his body and writhing helplessly on the bed as he came.

Adam began to pull of a little when he felt the first spurt of hot cum down his throat. He kept his mouth wide open so he could catch as much as possible. This was usually his least favorite part of the whole act, but this was Kris and this was worlds different. Adam wanted to taste him. Wanted to swallow as much of him down as he could and bring Kris into himself.

Adam kept gently sucking until Kris ran completely dry. Only then did he pull back to lap Kris clean. Kris was falling limp beneath Adam, sinking back down into the bed as his high slowly faded and he tried to catch his breath. Adam slid up the bed to drop down by Kris’ side with a smile.

“How was that, darling?”

“A-..Adam..” Kris mumbled, tripping over his name with a slight blush. “That was…kind of the best thing I’ve ever felt.” Adam’s smile grew into a full grin.

“It’s almost a shame…you have nothing to compare it to. I can almost guarantee mine are the best you’ll ever have,” Adam teased a little.

Kris rolled closer, giving Adam a poke in the stomach. “Then I’ll just have to compare that blowjob to any others you give me in the future. Good luck, you’ve got a really incredible precedent to beat.”

Adam cursed with a laugh. He reached out for Kris and pulled him closer, so their bodies were nestled together, front to front. Kris settled in but he didn’t close his eyes. He felt far too awake. Plus, he was still stark naked and Adam only had pants on and they were still so close…

Kris felt Adam nuzzling the top of his head. Kris tilted his head up so their lips could reach each other. Adam tugged him even closer as they kissed, one of his hands coming up to cup Kris’ neck, guiding him into the right angles for their slow, deep kisses. Adam hadn’t come, and Kris was made keenly aware of that when he realized he could feel the press of Adam’s cock against his abdomen. Kris shuddered, his mouth falling open the slightest bit when he did and Adam took advantage immediately, slipping his tongue past Kris’ lips. Kris let out the smallest moan as he sucked at Adam’s tongue for a moment. Adam’s tongue swept through his mouth and suddenly Kris was panting and he was achingly hard all over again

Their mouths parted but stayed close. They could each feel the other’s hot breath against their lips. Kris’ hands were at Adam’s shoulders, fingers holding tightly to him. Adam had Kris gathered close against him with his arms around his waist.

“Kris,” Adam murmured, “I know we both said we were going to wait but…”

“I want to,” Kris said immediately, clear want and need in his voice.

“Are you sure? I don’t want to rush or pressure you if you’re not ready.”

“No, I’m with you. I trust you and I want you. I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Adam kissed him suddenly and deeply, claiming Kris’ mouth as he rolled on top of the smaller man. But then Adam pulled back with one last concern.

“When that tonic cured me, it took away all remnants of the disease, right? There’s no risk of me spreading it?”

Kris hadn’t even thought of that. He remembered back to when Adam had been lying unconscious on the bed in the Pharaoh’s chambers, the doctor hovering over him as he examined Adam. Kris hated thinking about that. But because it was so horrific, he remembered everything in stark detail. He nodded.

“Yes, when the doctor told me about the tonic, he said it would completely rid your body of the disease.”

Adam took a deep breath, some anxiety still obvious in his expression. If anything happened to Kris because of him, he’d never be able to forgive himself.

Kris reached up to cup Adam’s face between both of his hands. He smoothed his thumbs across Adam’s cheeks, trying to erase the anxiety from his lover’s face.

“Those things in your past don’t matter to me, remember? I thank the gods everyday that you recovered from that disease, but it’s gone now. It doesn’t matter. I still love you and I still want, more than anything, for you to make love to me right now.” Kris could already tell Adam was about to ask him are you sure? again, so Kris laid his hand over Adam’s mouth to silence him. He looked up into Adam’s eyes for a few moments before drawing him down and removing his hand so he could kiss him.

Kris shifted around a little beneath Adam so he could open his legs with Adam between them. Adam breathed in sharply when their groins rubbed together. Kris reached down, his fingers finding the cloth of Adam’s pants and tugging.

“Please…” he whispered.

Adam searched Kris’ face for a few more long seconds before he made up his mind. It wasn’t a hard decision to make. Kris wasn’t the only one practically out of his mind with desire at this point.

Adam suddenly pulled away and got up from the bed and Kris watched him leave the room with a confused expression. But Adam returned only a moment later. He was carrying a flask of oil from the heating lamps.

“We’ll need this,” he said in a low voice that brought a shudder to Kris. Adam rid himself of his remaining clothing before he crawled back into the bed, settling over Kris. They both had to hold back groans just from the long-awaited press of bare skin.

“Okay, Kris. I want you to just stay relaxed. I’ll take care of everything. Just do the things I tell you to do, okay?” Adam’s heart warmed a bit in his chest when Kris immediately nodded with implicit trust. Adam was certain he would never deserve this man.

Adam kneeled between Kris’ legs, balancing the flask in one hand. He set it down on the bed so he could take one of Kris’ knees in each of his hands and gently guide them upwards, fitting himself in close between them. He looked back to Kris’ face and then had to kiss him. He bent down to reach Kris’ mouth and Kris moaned into the kiss, his legs tightening on either side of Adam’s body. Just having Adam there in that position, so close and intimately, made Kris’ heart beat excitedly in his chest.

Adam remained in that position, his body slotted against Kris. Adam’s cock was already hard and aching, pressing against the inside of Kris’ thigh and now Adam could barely wait to feel the inside of Kris’ body.

“Let me explain what we’ll do,” Adam whispered. A moment later, he was flipping them both onto their sides with Kris’ legs still framing him. Adam slid his arms around Kris to hold him in the same position. One of his hands slid down close to Kris’ ass.

“First, before we start, …I’ll have to stretch you to prepare you.”

Adam slid one finger down between Kris’ cheeks, and he felt the smaller man shudder in his arms.

“Just one finger first. I’ll go slowly, only adding one finger at a time as you’re ready.”

Kris was clutching Adam closer now, and Adam kissed the side of his head gently.

He finished, his mouth just near Kris’ ear, “And when I’m sure you’re stretched and ready, I’ll push inside of you.”

Kris actually moaned aloud now, his legs twining more tightly around Adam.

“Now, Adam, now. Start now,” he begged.

Adam didn’t want to be cruel. He knew he’d made Kris wait long enough for this already.

“Yes,” Adam said hurriedly, maneuvering them both back into their previous position. He sat up on his knees, propping Kris’ legs apart. He fumbled to reach the oil and pour enough out so his fingers were entirely slickened. He curled his other arm around Kris’ inner thigh, stroking the sensitive skin there soothingly.

Adam glanced up to Kris’ face and found the other man watching him with wide, wildly excited eyes. His hands were fisted in the blankets and his lips were parted. Adam automatically made a hushing sound. “You have to relax, Kris. You can’t be so tense.”

Kris tried his best to school his breathing and calm his body, but he was practically thrumming with arousal and want. He wasn’t sure how relaxed he could be. Then Adam moved his hand between Kris’ legs, and Kris’ whole body seized.

Adam’s first touch to Kris’ hole was gentle, but nonetheless he found Kris completely tightened and closed off. Adam looked up to his face again. Kris had his eyes closed now and his jaw clenched.

“Kris. Kris, my love, look at me.”

Kris opened his eyes and searched frantically for Adam for a few seconds before his eyes fixed on the other man’s face.

“A-Adam…” Kris’ voice wavered.

“It’s alright, Kris. I’m going to give you what you want, I promise. I want it too, incredibly so. But we won’t get anywhere like this. You have to relax and let me in.” He started sliding his hand gently up and down Kris’ thigh, trying to calm him. He pressed a soft kiss to the inside of Kris’ knee. “Everything’s alright, Kris. We have all night. We have all the time in the world together…”

Little by little, Kris’ breathing was slowing. Adam kept stroking his thigh, kept murmuring calming words and endearments to him.

“I love you more than anything, Kris…” and a kiss just above the knee.

Finally, Kris was calmed down. His muscles were relaxed now, just letting himself sprawl there on the bed on his back and letting Adam hold his legs where they were with his own body propped between them. Adam’s hand stilled on Kris’ thigh but he kept rubbing gentle circles into Kris’ thigh with his thumb. He dipped his other hand back into the oil before lowering it to Kris’ entrance again.

This time, he found Kris open and welcoming. Burning need surged up in him at just the first touch, but it wasn’t an option to go at any pace other than as slowly as Kris needed.

Adam slid just the tip of his finger in, watching with interest as a gasp fluttered through Kris at the first press into him. He was so beautiful, and Adam told him such as he sunk his single finger in farther.

“More…more, Adam,” Kris gasped. Only a moment later, Adam was slowly pushing his finger the rest of the way in. Out, and then slowly all the way back in again. Adam felt like there was a war going on inside him – his need to go slowly to avoid his lover feeling pain, fighting with his own throbbing cock and desire for Kris. The former was stronger. Kris was far more important than himself. And this was Kris’ first time. Adam was determined to make it the best imaginable for Kris.

Adam dipped his fingers back into the oil before he started urging a second finger into Kris. The younger man was opening beautifully. It only took a few slow movements in and out before Adam could fit both fingers inside. He scissored his fingers slowly and carefully. By the time Adam was fitting a third finger in, Kris was rocking down onto his fingers slightly, seeking more stimulation. Adam could give him that. He pushed just two fingers in and felt around until he found the spot that made Kris jump and gasp. Adam rubbed the spot with his fingertips, Kris’ moans sending hot shivers through him. Adam needed to get to the main event, and fast.

He used three fingers again, making sure Kris could take them with no trouble. Adam stretched him just a little more to be sure before removing his fingers.

“Now, I’m ready, Adam…I’m ready,” Kris gasped when he felt Adam remove his fingers. “Please.”

“I couldn’t wait another minute even if I wanted to,” Adam said all in one rushed breath. He was so hard it was starting to hurt. Adam quickly coated his hands in oil and slicked his cock, making sure that every bit was covered. Protecting Kris from any pain was still the undisputed priority.

When he was ready, Adam grasped Kris’ knees again. He lifted them higher so they were almost at his shoulder height and when Kris folded his legs around Adam, they would be at the middle of his back. He slid his hands back to Kris’ hips, pulling Kris down against him and lining up.

Adam looked up at Kris one final time for confirmation. Just to see, one last time, that Kris truly wanted this, wanted him. Kris met his gaze, as if he expected Adam’s moment of hesitation. Kris moved one hand down to Adam’s at his hip. He slid his fingers between Adam’s and kept them there. When Adam looked back to Kris’ face, Kris was giving him that smile that was only Adam’s – the one that spoke more of Kris’ devotion and love for Adam than any amount of words ever could.

This was love. And this was why it was different than anything Adam had experienced before, like Kris said. Tonight, in a sense Adam was just as much a virgin as Kris. He had never made love before. But finally, finally, after days and years of wishing for a man that held his hand and smiled at him just like this, Adam had the chance.

Keeping his one hand entwined with Kris’, Adam pushed in. Kris gasped loudly, his head falling back into the pillows and back arching when Adam slid into him the first time. Adam was slow and gentle, yet moved with precision. He landed deep inside Kris, seated almost fully in him. After a few seconds to let Kris adjust and taking in the incredible way Kris felt around him, Adam slid out and pushed slowly back in. Kris moaned loudly as Adam’s cock came into him again and more deeply. With the third thrust, Adam pushed entirely into Kris. Kris was left panting and clutching Adam’s hand in a death grip.

“S-start moving, Adam,” Kris gritted through clenched teeth. His body writhed and moved around Adam desperately, communicating how badly he needed Adam to fuck him in earnest. “I’m ready..I know I’m ready…”

And Adam did just that, pulling out again and thrusting in with more force this time. He gripped Kris’ thigh with his free hand for leverage as he worked his way into a rhythm, fucking into Kris with more speed and drive this time. He started letting his prurience seep through the wall he’d pushed it behind, bringing more strength behind each push into Kris’ waiting, slick, tight heat. Adam could feel something taking him over, almost consuming him in its power. He would have to call it passion. Adam was almost entirely lost in it, in his need and love for Kris.

Through the near-overwhelming pleasure of Adam thrusting inside him again and again, deeper and deeper, Kris tugged on Adam’s hand. He wanted them to be closer. Adam responded immediately with the same desire. He let go of Kris’ thigh and Kris’ legs immediately wrapped tight around Adam’s back. Adam leaned down so their torsos were pressed together. Kris’ hands came up behind his shoulders, gripping him close.

“Kris,…fuck, Kris..” Adam gasped as he dove into Kris again and Kris’ body arched up into him.

“Adam..,” Kris moaned, clinging to him.

Now when they were pressed together, they began to move as one. Kris rocked into the firm, searing thrusts of Adam’s cock. He would cry out and tremble in Adam’s arms every time Adam drove into his spot. Adam soon mastered its location. It wasn’t long before Kris’ thighs were trembling where they were wrapped around Adam, and he couldn’t stop panting and gasping and moaning through the intense, incredible pleasure burning through him. Kris could never have come close to imagining feeling like this – like he was unraveling and coming apart with each thrust of Adam’s body into him.

Adam bent his head down to rest his forehead against Kris’ chest. He closed his eyes, breathing hard as he focused on his movements in and out of Kris, thrusting in with force directed right to Kris’ spot, sliding out before quickly sinking in again. Adam would never have words for how good Kris felt around him.

Now Adam could feel the way Kris’ body was beginning to tense and shudder beneath him. He was letting out the most beautiful moans and Adam felt Kris tightening around him. Adam had expected Kris to come rather quickly. He started moving a bit faster inside Kris, trying to get himself closer to that state as well before he slipped one hand between their sweat-slicked bodies to wrap around Kris’ leaking cock. It only took a few strokes from Adam’s hand. Kris let out his loudest cry yet and his nails dug into Adam’s back. His hips bucked wildly up against Adam as he came in spurts. Kris had never felt anything near this intense in his life.

“Adam! …adamadamadam..” Kris exclaimed almost to the point of drivel as the waves of sensation crested over his head and slowly began to ebb away.

Adam could feel Kris coming beneath him. He could feel Kris’ body writhing beneath him, hear his cries and moans, but the best was the way Kris was clenching and tightening around his cock while Adam continued to drive into him. In that moment, nothing could have made Adam stop.

Feeling and hearing Kris reach his peak sent Adam abruptly speeding towards his own. Suddenly he was a lot closer than he realized. He dropped his head into the crook of Kris’ neck and shoulder, resting it there as he worked into Kris for the final few times.

“Stay in,” he heard Kris whisper from above him, out of breath. At first, Adam didn’t know what he meant through the haze of pleasure in his mind, but then Kris added, “When you come…stay in.” Adam groaned out loud and dropped his head back down against Kris’ shoulder.

At that point, Adam’s instincts seemed to take over. His hips snapped forward into Kris a few more times and Adam was so close he just wanted to hold Kris there and keep going until he couldn’t any more.

“Yes, A-adam…I want-I want to feel you…” Kris was murmuring from below him and if Kris kept talking like that Adam wouldn’t be able to handle it. Adam cursed and exclaimed Kris’ name in the same breath as he surged up to kiss him messily. His hips stuttered unevenly, falling out of rhythm as Adam finally felt the first taste of his climax. He pushed in hard one last time and, as Kris had asked, he stayed, buried all the way to the hilt in Kris. Even though he was growing sensitive as the final shocks from his orgasm filtered through him, Kris spread his legs wider so Adam could reach as deep as possible. Kris moaned softly against Adam’s mouth, shuddering while his lover came so deep within him. They clung to each other and kissed sloppily and there was no way they could be any closer.

They were one.

There was a fogginess over both of them while Adam withdrew and slowly untangled himself from Kris. He didn’t want to lose any of their closeness. His arms stayed around Kris as Adam’s exhausted frame slumped down beside him. Kris was still breathing hard, still trying to recover and catch his breath. His stomach was still sticky and so were the inside of his thighs a little, but he couldn’t have cared less. There was nowhere in the entire world he wanted to be other than in Adam’s arms.

Adam let out a sigh of utter happiness and content, nuzzling his nose against the side of Kris’ head gently. His face took on a look of deep concentration then, soon followed by frustration.

“What is it?” Kris asked immediately, the proximity of their faces making Adam’s expression difficult to miss.

Adam reached a hand up to stroke Kris’ cheek with fond tenderness as he replied softly, “You’re going to find this so awful, but…I realized I don’t know any happy songs.” Adam continued before Kris could voice his bout of confusion, “I wanted to sing for you. It would be perfect, right after we’ve made love for the first time. But…..I’ve only ever had the will to learn the saddest of songs. For the longest time, singing was how I dealt with the worst of my misery. But now, when I want to sing in a moment of unrivaled, total happiness,…want to sing about you,…I don’t know any song that would be right.”

Kris was smiling so wide it almost hurt and he wasn’t even sure why. All he did know was that his eyes were a little teary and he was reaching out to clutch Adam closer as his heart swelled with emotion for the other man.

“Well I promise you something, Adam. We’re going to find all the happiest songs in this world for you to learn. And they’re the only ones you’re ever going to need from now on.”

Adam gathered him in and Kris practically crushed himself against Adam’s chest, holding him tightly.

Adam hummed instead. He held Kris close and hummed little snippets of tunes to him. Eventually he started singing instead, no words, just singing little spirals of melodies. Every tone was filled with bright colors and Kris felt the love and happiness spilling out.

It was the most beautiful thing he had ever heard.

 

Laying awake in bed, with Kris curled up around him asleep, Adam felt something for the first time he could remember. Every inch of him was happy. This place in the present world was perfect. For the first time in his life, everything in Adam’s past – everything he had gone through since that horrible night when he was thirteen - none of it mattered one bit. He thought back on the past like it had happened to someone else. It didn’t have power over him anymore.

 

Kris woke up the next morning tangled just as tightly around Adam as he had fallen asleep. The morning sun was trickling in through the single window, and Kris looked up quickly for the chance to watch Adam slowly wake from sleep. Adam’s face scrunched up a bit as he stretched his arms up over his head. He finally cracked his eyes open as his arms settled back around Kris. Kris smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth.

“Morning.”

Adam tilted his head to the side to give Kris a soft smile.

“Morning.”

There was a new kind of warmth in his voice, a new kind of intimacy. Adam closed the space between their mouths and gave Kris a deep, tender kiss. Something had changed between them for sure. It was only the most positive of changes and neither of them had to voice it.

Kris laid his head back down on Adam’s shoulder, where it had been when he’d awoken. Adam wrapped his arms more tightly around the smaller man. He reached up to stroke the fingers of one hand through Kris’ tousled hair.

“I’m amazed, Kris,” Adam finally said softly after a long while of comfortable silence. “You were right. It was like…a whole new experience, it was so incredibly different…”

Kris smiled when he heard Adam say that, and he snuggled in closer against Adam. He was immensely relieved and happy that what they had shared had had just as much of an emotional impact on Adam as it had on him.

“I’ve never felt closer to you,” Adam said, kissing Kris’ forehead. “I didn’t know sex could do that.”

“It was so much more than just sex, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t think I could even describe all the other things it was,” Adam sighed wistfully. “So much more. I felt so…connected to you. And it was special, unique because I would never want to share something like that with anyone else. I was never able to have that with someone else and I won’t ever, because there’s no one else I could love the way I love you.”

Kris just kissed Adam’s chin, feeling honored and warm from head to toe and unsure of quite what to say in the face of these words that meant so much to Adam after all he had experienced.

“All this time, I just needed to find you. I just needed to find you, Kris.”

 

When they needed a trip to the markets a few days later, they went together. It didn’t take them long to find and purchase all of the food goods they needed, and afterwards Adam grabbed Kris and dragged him over to his favorite clothing vendors. There were some beautiful silk tunics that Adam squealed over a bit while Kris laughed to himself. He found Adam’s glee over clothes shopping nothing but adorable.

Adam had picked up a deep blue tunic and held it towards Kris to see how it looked on him when they heard a voice calling, “Adam? Adam!”

Adam lifted up his head and looked around. Then he found the source – Brad had been standing at a stall a little ways away and was now hurrying over towards them.

“Adam! It is you!” Brad exclaimed with a grin, immediately throwing himself into Adam’s arms. Adam looked just a bit uncomfortable as he folded his arms around Brad just to give him a small hug. But even when Adam lowered his arms, Brad kept his arms around Adam’s waist. He was still close at Adam’s side when he noticed Kris.

“Oh, you’re the servant kid, right? You’re cute.”

“Not my servant. Not anyone’s servant anymore,” Adam answered a little too quickly, pointedly ignoring the ‘cute’ comment. Brad’s appearance had caught him off guard. At one point he had been rather close to the man, but everything in Adam’s life had changed since then.

But Brad’s attention quickly shifted back to Adam as he leaned up on his toes, his eyes on Adam’s lips and intention to kiss him clear. Adam kind of jerked his head backwards, giving Brad a shake of his head to deter him.

Brad sighed and said jokingly, “You and your policies.” Brad put his hands on Adam’s chest, rubbing one hand in circles. If Kris didn’t already thoroughly dislike him, that would have done it. Kris wasn’t quite sure what to do. He just stood ramrod-straight a few feet away, watching.

“I can’t believe my luck to see you all the way out here!” Brad was rambling to Adam, “I’ve really been meaning to come back and see you again. I really, really missed you, y’know. But now I see you all the way out here! Imagine that! I’ve had a really tough day, it would be great if we could go back to your home or mine even if you don’t have one around here. I haven’t been with you in so long…” Brad’s voice was beginning to take on his own kind of purr and he was reaching up to twine his arms around Adam’s neck. That was when Adam blanched and he knew he really had to put his foot down and pull away.

He did just that, backing up out of Brad’s arms.

“Sorry, Brad. I guess you didn’t hear the news. I quit the business.” Brad looked utterly stunned and perplexed. “Yeah, sorry Brad, but I’m done with that. I don’t need it anymore. You could have come by much more often though, you had plenty of time while I was still working. But I know it wasn’t a priority.”

There had been a time when Adam had been bitter over Brad’s obvious unwillingness for there to be anything more than a seller/customer relationship between them. Adam had thought they had potential. Brad had acted sometimes like he felt the same, but ultimately Adam knew Brad visited him only when it was convenient.

Adam sidestepped towards Kris, sliding his arm around Kris’ shoulders. Kris finally smiled a bit, the awkwardness of the situation beginning to lift.

“Ready to go home, Kris? We got everything we needed, didn’t we?”

“Mhm,” Kris agreed with a smile, holding up the bag in his hands that was filled with food and cooking supplies.

“Wait,” Brad interjected, looking between Adam and Kris. His expression was puzzled and a tiny bit affronted. “I thought you said you quit, Adam.”

“I did. I sure did,” Adam responded with a proud smile. He squeezed Kris’ shoulder a little. Then he bent his head down to press a tender kiss to the side of Kris’ head. Kris’ lips lifted in a smile and he turned his head to leave a soft kiss on Adam’s lips. Adam looked back towards Brad, his arm still tight around Kris. “He’s the reason.”

Brad finally understood and he huffed, crossing his arms.

“Well, fine. Like I need to pay people for sex, anyway. Have a nice life or whatever.” Brad kind of tossed his head in a ‘hmmph’ kind of way before stalking off with a vague wave over his shoulder.

“I always hated him,” was what Kris said immediately. Adam laughed.

“Really?”

Kris nodded with quite a serious-looking expression. “It always seemed like he didn’t take you seriously even though you liked him.”

“You can read me so well, it’s a little scary.”

Adam smiled though, tugging Kris closer to give him a squeeze. “Neither of us have to worry about him anymore. He’s just a blip in that history I’m leaving behind.”

Kris slid his hand down into Adam’s and gave him a wide smile.

“So. Heading home?”

“Absolutely.”

Adam gave Kris a peck on the lips before they started making their way out of the marketplace.

 

What Adam had said to Kris about leaving his past behind was completely true. And what Kris had realized and shared with him about why Adam hadn’t been able to let go of prostitution had been right. Kris had been right about everything. But Adam truly felt that everything about him, everything in him, was changing. With Kris as his partner, Adam had been pushed into an entirely new life. He didn’t need his old one anymore. It was jarring, to be honest, to have the whole earth pulled so suddenly from under his feet. But Adam was slowly finding his balance on new ground. And this new landscape was luscious and green and beautiful and Adam wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

 

The next day, Kris felt like riding. His horse, that is. (Although he had experimented with riding Adam as well.) Kris untied his horse and clambered up onto her back. He rode aimlessly for a few hours, just for the feeling of the wind and the horse’s muscles rippling under his body. Riding reminded him of when he’d been younger and a servant to the merchant caravan. He had spent all his time riding and taking care of the camels, and he’d enjoyed it. When he’d been stuck with Dallon, Kris had always thought back to the caravan and the camels to comfort himself. He certainly didn’t need any comforting now, but it still wasn’t unpleasant to think about.

As Kris’ horse galloped back and the house came into view, Kris saw a shape or pile or some sort outside in front of the house. When Kris got closer and dismounted the horse, he saw that the messy pile was made up of the rest of Adam’s makeup – the brushes, broken pots of kohl, cracked containers of rouge – and some of his clothes bundled up carelessly and tossed outside. Kris recognized the tight pants Adam had always worn for customers. The silken, transparent robes Adam had been wearing the first time Kris had met him.

Puzzled, Kris tied up his horse and went inside. He found Adam in the bedroom. He’d bought a new mirror since the old one had broken, but this one was smaller and propped up on the wall. Adam wasn’t sitting at the vanity table, he was just standing in front of the mirror. He was holding shears in one hand, a clump of his hair in the other. It was a shock that slammed through Kris when he realized Adam had cut off the whole left side of his hair. Kris watched in shock and fascination as Adam lifted up a handful of hair from the back of his head and chopped away until it stuck up from his head.

“Hey, you’re back,” Adam said softly, dropping the handful of hair on the floor before lifting the next chunk.

“Yeah,” Kris said softly as he came into the room. He watched Adam cut away more hair. “I can’t believe you’re doing that…” Kris whispered, obviously completely stunned.

“I needed a change. My hair’s been like this ever since my father made me grow it out.”

Kris watched silently while Adam snipped more of his hair. The dark strands fell in messy clumps to the floor.

“Can I help?” Kris finally asked softly.

Adam paused, the shears still mid-air. He looked over to Kris, just watching him for a few seconds before finally smiling faintly. “I guess you could get the back more neatly than I can.” He handed the shears to Kris.

Kris couldn’t help the slight shake of his hand as he lifted the shears to Adam’s long, beautiful hair. Kris had always loved running his fingers through it. He looked to Adam’s face in the mirror one last time, saw the certainty in his expression, and Kris chopped a section of hair.

Once Adam’s hair had all been cut so the short strands stood out mussed from his head, Adam swept up all his discarded hair from the floor. He carried it all outside and Kris followed him. On his way outside, Adam picked up the flint he used to light his pipe.

When they were facing the pile of objects sitting outside, Adam said, staring at it, “I cleaned out everything. Took it all out. All the clothes, the makeup, the hair products…”

Adam kneeled down to be on the same level as the chair from the vanity table, where it was buried under all the other things in the pile. He struck the flint a few times against the wood of the chair until it sparked and flames burst out. Then Adam stood back up and he tossed one handful of his hair onto the pile. Kris reached out and grabbed his hand to stop him before he threw the other handful.

“Wait…” Kris opened Adam’s fingers and took the locks of hair from them. “If you don’t want to keep any of this, is it alright if I keep just this little bit? I don’t want to lose all these things from the person you were…I loved that person a whole lot, you know.”

Adam just watched Kris for a few seconds before smiling. “Of course, Kris.”

Kris folded his hands around the bit of Adam’s hair, and Adam folded his arms around Kris. They watched together as the bright orange flames slowly spread through the whole pile. The fabrics lit and burst into flames. The glass and clay makeup containers cracked and warped in the heat. But as the fire slowly spread, it’s light brightened. Eventually it had consumed the entire pile, and Kris and Adam watched together as the beautiful flames danced and shone in the night.

“Do you think it can really be like this?” Adam asked Kris a while later, once the flames were halfway burnt out. “With something beautiful rising out of something old and not?”

Kris looked up to Adam’s face and he wrapped his arms a bit more tightly around him. Kris rested his head on Adam’s shoulder before replying, “Yes. I’m sure it can.”

 

7 Years Later

 

Kris was late.

His bag bounced against his side as he sat up on his horse’s back, riding as quickly as he could down the road that led to the Palace.

He’d wanted something to occupy his time and he’d been surprised to find plenty of work. He and Adam had come to know some of the people who lived near them and the families with young children had hired Kris to teach their young ones to read. Kris had loved every minute spent as a teacher.

After a few years of simple, private tutoring, Adam had sent off a letter to the Pharaoh. Not long afterwards, Kris had found himself with the position of educator to the Pharaoh and Nesa’s two children. The boy, Musan, would grow up to be his father’s heir, and he had a younger sister named Jelnae. Musan was a more receptive student as he was older, but Jelnae was wonderfully sweet. Kris found them both to be delightful.

Years ago, Kris had been a servant. Now he was teaching the Pharaoh’s children. He never would have thought.

When Kris had first taken the job, the Pharaoh had offered Kris and Adam their own rooms in the Palace so Kris wouldn’t have to travel for his lessons. Kris had immediately declined the offer, knowing that Adam would never want to set foot in the Palace again. Kris didn’t think he could live there either. So now, a few times during each moon cycle, Kris would set a day aside to travel to the Palace and spend the day teaching.

This morning he was running a bit late, but it was all Adam’s fault. He’d enticed Kris to stay in bed longer than he should have – with kisses and caresses.

When Kris finally reached the palace and he hurried to his classroom, he found Nesa sitting with the children.

“Good day, my Lady. I’m terribly sorry for the delay.”

Kris was a bit of a mess as he rushed in, his robes disheveled and throwing his bag haphazardly onto the table. Nesa looked amused at Kris’ flustered demeanor.

“It’s quite alright. It’s no problem for me to watch my own children for a few minutes longer.”

She kissed each of her children on the top of the head before rising up from where she’d been sitting on the floor. She brushed out the creases from her sheath dress. In seven years, Nesa had grown into a stunningly beautiful young woman and the most kind-hearted of mothers. The Pharaoh shared almost all of his power with her. He was not only smitten with her, but had learned an appreciation for her quiet intelligence and tactfulness. She was his most trusted advisor.

With a smile towards Kris, Nesa left the room.

“What are we doing today, Mister Kris?” Musan immediately asked with curiousity. “I hope not hieroglyphics, I hate those…”

“Well, I’m very sorry, Musan, but hieroglyphics are essential if one is to grow up to be a well-rounded ruler…”

 

Once his bag was all packed again and the children had run off to play, Kris began making his way out of the Palace.

“Kris! Wait a moment!”

Kris turned in the direction the voice had come and was surprised to see the Pharaoh himself hurrying towards him. Kris rarely saw the Pharaoh. When he did, Kris still felt intimidated by him. Not only for the obvious reason that he was the most powerful man in the whole country,…but also because Kris harbored a secret fear that the Pharaoh still desired Adam. In an instant, he could have Adam taken away for himself. Kris reminded himself that the Pharaoh wasn’t the kind of man to ever do such a thing, but rationality didn’t work very well towards thoughts like those.

“Your Majesty,” Kris addressed him without a hitch, bowing his head when the other man was standing before him.

The Pharaoh waved his hand dismissively.

“Away with formalities. You are my children’s’ teacher, you’re like family.”

“Thank you.”

“I have something to speak to you about.” The Pharaoh’s voice was all grim seriousness. It made Kris grow tense. “What do you know about Adam’s father?”

Kris was quiet for a few seconds, trying to figure out how it would make any sense for the Pharaoh to be asking about Adam’s father.

“Um,…Adam has told me about him, yes.”

“Do you know his name?” The Pharaoh seemed urgent and concerned, and that worried Kris.

“I don’t know,” Kris answered nervously, “Adam has only told me what he remembers of his father from when he was a child.”

“Then could you tell me what he’s told you?”

Kris tried his best to clear away the haze of confusion in his head over the Pharaoh’s request, and answer calmly.

“Well…Adam’s father was horrible to him. He’s to blame for almost all of Adam’s hardship. His father forced him into prostitution and practically reared him on it. He ingrained the practice so deeply, Adam couldn’t rid himself of it for a long time.”

The Pharaoh listened intently, but still looked concerned.

Finally, he commented to himself, “Yes…it must be him…”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty, but…why are you asking?”

The Pharaoh sighed, crossing his arms as he looked down at the smaller man and met his eyes.

“A few days ago, some of my guards captured a man in one of my marketplaces. This man was selling young people into sexual slavery and keeping them in horrid conditions with hardly enough food. He was arrested and locked in one of the Palace cells. His name is Ahmose Lambert.”

Even though Kris didn’t know for sure whether or not this man was Adam’s father, the name still sent a cold shiver through him.

“Would you do me a favor, Kris?” The Pharaoh continued, “Go home and ask Adam whether this man is who I believe he is. If he indeed is,…after what you’ve told me about him…, Adam may choose to determine his punishment himself. I believe Adam deserves that. If he does not wish to take that offer, I will give Ahmose the justice I see fit.”

Kris practically staggered under the weight of this new development. He couldn’t imagine how Adam would feel when he heard this. Certainly terrible. Kris dreaded sharing this with Adam and dredging up old pain.

“I will tell him. Thank you, Your Majesty.”

 

When Kris arrived home, he found Adam seated on the couch in the living room with a book in his lap. Adam seemed engrossed in his book and didn’t look up, but he’d smiled when he heard Kris come through the front door. Kris let his bag drop to the floor and he came into the room. He came up beside the couch and slipped his arms around Adam’s shoulders, pulling Adam’s head in against his chest. Adam smiled again as Kris kissed the top of his head and mussed his hair a bit with his fingers.

“How were the kids?” Adam asked, finally looking up from his book.

“Fine. How were you fairing with your book? You’re still my most important student, you know.”

“I was getting through it just fine, thank you. I don’t think I’m really in need of your tutelage anymore, oh great teacher.”

Adam closed his book and Kris just laughed a little. Adam turned so he could get his arms around Kris’ waist. Adam pushed the book away and pulled Kris down into its place on his lap. Kris moved willingly with him, straddling Adam’s waist and letting Adam manhandle him a little.

Tugging Kris closer, Adam whined a little, “I miss you when you go away all day. You go far too often.”

Kris slid his arms around Adam’s neck as his laid down on top of Adam with his front pressed against Adam’s chest. He gave Adam a quick kiss.

“It’s the alternative to living in the Palace. I know you’d hate that.”

“Eugh, I would,” Adam said, giving a horrified shudder.

“And I enjoy this job. I’m attached to the children now.”

Adam made a show of sighing indulgently. “Whatever makes you happy, I suppose. Even if it is at my expense.”

“Hey, that’s not fair. I miss you too when I’m gone. But you always know I’m coming home before sunset,” Kris said and kissed Adam again.

 

A few years ago, Adam had reached the age of thirty and had suffered something of a meltdown because of it. Kris had thought he was being ridiculous. Of course Adam had acquired a few soft wrinkles here and there, but they were only noticeable when Kris was this close – with his face practically pressed up to Adam’s. When Kris reached thirty, as he soon would, he knew he would develop the same. He was just glad he and Adam were experiencing it together. Kris had assured Adam many times that Kris still thought he was beautiful, and eventually Adam had gotten over his age insecurity.

 

They’d started kissing on the couch, and Adam was already sliding his hands beneath Kris’ tunic. These days, Adam wore looser, much more modest clothing. This was fine by Kris – these clothes were easier to take off of him than the tight ones Adam had always worn way back when. It wasn’t long before they were panting each other’s names and Kris was sliding down onto his lover.

While it had taken a long time for both of them to be comfortable with it, they had experimented a few times in bed with Kris on top. The experiences hadn’t been bad by any means, but they both preferred this way. It felt more natural for them.

Once they were both sufficiently sweaty and out of breath from the peak of their lovemaking, they curled up together on the couch. Kris quickly kindled a fire before carrying in a blanket from the bedroom for good measure. The nights often grew bitterly cold, but they knew how to keep warm. (There was no technique better than sharing body heat.)

With the blanket situated over both of their still-bare bodies, Adam had settled down with his head nestled in Kris’ lap and his eyes closed. Kris was combing his fingers through Adam’s hair. He didn’t think he’d ever lose his fixation with Adam’s hair. It had taken him a long time to get used to Adam’s short hair, but now Kris loved it even more than when his hair had been long. The shorter, mussed hair seemed to suit Adam better.

“I did some of your laundry today,” Adam said suddenly, burying in a little more into Kris’ lap. “Who would have thought,” he said with a little chuckle. “Me,…doing housework. Michael would be in disbelief.”

“What an absolutely lovely little house maid you make, dearest.”

Adam gave Kris’ leg a swat, but he was smiling.

Adam just looked like he was getting comfortable and nearing sleep when Kris remembered what he’d had to tell him. Kris frowned a bit as he looked down at Adam’s perfectly serene face. Waiting to tell him would only do less good. It would hang over both of them.

“Hey, Adam?” Kris asked tentatively, his hands stilling in Adam’s hair. “What was your father’s name?”

Kris felt Adam tense slightly as his eyes opened again.

“Why in the world are you asking that?”

Kris chewed his bottom lip, trying his best to think of the gentlest way to retell what the Pharaoh had told him.

“The Pharaoh himself stopped me today before I left the Palace. He had to discuss something with me.” Adam was fully awake again now, looking up at Kris with interest but more so apprehension. Kris started stroking Adam’s hair again, doing his best to soothe him as he continued, “He told me that one of his guards had arrested a man for dealings in underage slavery. The man’s name was Ahmose Lambert.”

Adam let out a harsh-sounding laugh all in one breath. He sat up. Kris watched him anxiously, his hands hovering above Adam’s shoulders, trying to calm him.

“It……” Adam paused, took a deep breath, “It’s him.”

Kris was silent for a few seconds, letting the enormity of this really sink in.

“The Pharaoh had more to say,” Kris said softly, wanting now to just get everything out, “After the injustices you’ve lived through because of your father…..if you wish a specific punishment to be given to him, you can order it.”

Adam’s head bent down into the crook of his arms now. He was silent for long, agonizing moments. Kris didn’t know what to do, and he hated that.

After what seemed like eternity, Adam finally sighed deeply and lifted his head. He slowly laid back again, his head finding its way back into Kris’ lap. Kris immediately started stroking his hair again. Adam closed his eyes and wrapped one hand tightly around Kris’ knee, as if to ground himself there.

After enough time had passed that Kris could bear it no longer, he asked Adam, “What do you think you’ll do?”

Adam’s eyes were open again, but he was gazing towards one of the walls unseeingly. Kris couldn’t tell whether he was deliberating something behind those eyes, or trying to resign himself to the decision he’d already made.

Finally, Adam said tonelessly, “I don’t care. I have nothing to do with him anymore. The Pharaoh can punish him based on whatever laws already exist.”

Kris quickly let go of the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

“Oh, Adam…” Kris murmured. Deep down, he’d been hoping that Adam would respond like this – the ultimate proof that he really had moved on from the horrible things done to him by his excuse for a father.

Kris didn’t know what to say. He had no words, so he just bent over and kissed Adam’s forehead. He kissed his nose, his cheeks, his lips, and all of them over again. “I love you.” Adam looked up at Kris and smiled, and Kris’ heart seized.

They fell into silence for a while. Neither of them really had the energy to speak much anymore. When both of their eyes were beginning to drift closed in sleep, they put out the fire in the fireplace and moved into bed together. They had several blankets spread over them and each of their bodies were wrapped around the other. There was no warmer, safer, better place.

With his head resting on Adam’s chest, Kris said a bit sleepily, “I’m thinking I may write a book.”

“Hm?”

“A book. I could write one. I’ve spent enough time teaching books. I could write my own.

“You certainly could,” Adam agreed, snuggling Kris closer in his arms.

“Maybe…” Kris mumbled softly, “It could be about two men that fall passionately in love. One is incredibly beautiful, he’s one of the most wonderful people this world has ever known.”

“Oh, so that would be you, of course.”

“No, no, that would be you,” Kris said with an amused shake of his head.

“Well…,” Adam began to say, but then had to pause for a yawn. He nestled back down close to Kris and closed his eyes again.

“No matter which is which, I think I’m familiar with the story.”


End file.
